Megamorph
by Tsuikai
Summary: Great weapons aren't created, they are born. Female Tails, get used to it
1. Chapter 1

Megamorph

Authors:

Daniel Sargeant (Tsuikai) & Kattx.

Disclaimer: Niether myself nor Kattx claim to own any of the characters in this story, except for 2 later on, but however, we are not making profit from this story other than your reading entertainment. (C) Sega/Sonic Team.

Chapter One: Project Chimera verses a Foxes Secret.

Amy was walking down the empty dark street, carrying her nightly shopping. She looked around and only really began to realise the settings. "This seems awfully familiar. All that needs to happen is I get struck in the head by a bird and a robot comes out of nowhere and chases me." She chuckled, trying to swing the mood.

Well, I'm no robot. But perhaps I can nab you myself." Amy turns around to see Doctor Eggman. But before she can scream out, she is instantly gassed and falls over. "Attention shoppers, we have pink hedgehog special in aisle nine, get them while we're in stock. Wooo, hoo hoo hoo hoo!" and carts Amy off. "Amy always was easy, but I guess that probably why Sonic won't go after her. He does like a challenge after all..."

It was 8:30 am before Cream finally got herself out of bed. She stretched with a yawn and then brushed her ears slightly before swirling her legs out of bed. She walked over to her draws and pulled out a pair of panties and socks and her favourite orange dress and gloves, throwing them onto her unmade bed. She then proceeded to undress from her pyjamas and get into the clothes she got out. After changing she strolled out her room and into the living room. Vanilla was in the kitchen cooking up something for breakfast.

"Good morning, Honey." Vanilla greeted her daughter.

"Good morning, mom. What are you cooking?" Cream asked, taking a wiff of the smell from the kitchen.

"Just the usual, eggs, turkey bacon, pancakes and a glass of OJ."

"Yummy." Cream said. "I have to meet Amy at the mall today. We're going shopping for new dresses." She continued, heading to the dining table and taking a seat.

"Well, make sure you buy conservative clothing when you shop. You can't always wear knee length dresses and skirts."

"Okay, I will." Cream smiled happily.

"And make sure you buy something nice for Tails. Like a new tool set and whatnot."

"I've tried everything on Tails, nothing seems to get his real attention though. I think he likes someone else..." Cream said, somewhat sadly. "He's thankful when i buy him things, but I've tried all sorts of things to get his attention. But he seems unaffected by anything I do."

"I see. Well, the fox needs more tools... I don't understand how someone who can build a spacecraft from scratch loses so many screwdrivers and wrenches." and Vanilla wraps up the last bit of cooking. "Well, at least we know that tech heads are very picky when it comes to 'taste in partners' so to speak..."

"Maybe he met some nice girl who also likes tools and things. But I guess a new toolset can't hurt." Cream said as Vanilla brings in breakfast and serves it, taking her own seat.

"I didn't think there were other girls that were into that sort of thing." Vanilla says while pouring herself some orange juice. "I wonder what this girl looks like."

"It is just a guess, mom." Cream said as she took her cutlery and began chopping away at her food and eating politely.

_With all of his ingenuity, Tails could probably __**make**__ himself a girlfriend._ Vanilla thought. _It just seems weird though, I thought Tails and Cream were much closer than how they appeared. I probably should've made him take her out..._ Vanilla eats her eggs. "Well, I guess I can understand the guess. But would you be jealous if it were actually true?"

"..Yes. A little. I like Tails a lot." Cream honestly spoke, she finished up her breakfast and began downing a glass of OJ.

"Well, make sure you make up your bed, brush your teeth and rinse with mouthwash before you go."

"I will." Cream said, as she hopped down from her chair. She ran off toward her room.  
"Oh, Cream." Vanilla called, Cream stopped and spun on her feet to face her mother.  
"Yes?"  
"Take some motherly advice. 'Give anything, but don't give up.' Okay?" Cream smiled.  
"Okay, i won't." she said before she returned to her room. She cleaned up her pyjamas, made her bed, then made her way into the bathroom, cleaned up her face, brushed her teeth, used the mouthwash and dried up before heading to the door of the house.

Cream was skipping down the town, humming happily as she passed by, heading into the plaza. There she turned to make her way to the mall, where she was to meet Amy shortly. However, she stopped as she heard a familiar buzzing noise. She looked in the direction of the noise, but in the same split second, a gust of wind nearly pushed her over, she regained her composure however.  
"There goes Sonic..." And with those words another gust so strong it pulled her over, but she landed on her hands. "That was Shadow. Must be another race..." She stood and dusted herself off.

Sonic runs speedily through the city, leaping over a wall and landing but now running backwards. "Come on Shadow, what's the matter? I can barely see you in my dust, you can do better than that."  
Shadow then picked it up a notch, running now next to Sonic.  
"Just think, If I had a chaos emerald, I'd have beaten you long ago." He said.

"Chaos Control is a means to a cheaty win. It doesn't count for actual speed." Sonic countered.  
"Well, technically it does, as Chaos control speeds me up, it doesn't slow down anything." Shadow retorted. "Besides, not that it matters, I have the ability to defeat you, with or without a chaos emerald."  
"We'll see about that." And with that, Sonic turned back around and the two sped off down the street.

Meanwhile, back with Cream. It had been 30 minutes since she arrived and Amy was still nowhere to be seen.  
"Huh, that's odd. It's not like Amy to not be here on time for our shops, let along half an hour late." She sighed.

Cream waited for another 30 minutes before she finally snapped.  
"Ooohh, Amy stood me up. How mean..." She moaned.  
"What's the matter, Cream?" Asked a voice from behind her. Cream turned around and blushed, coming face to face with Tails.

Tails was dressed in blue jeans and a large white t-shirt which was slightly dirtied from his work at the workshop. His three bangs on his head had gotten longer since Cream saw him last and were curling slightly, and the fur on the back of his head had also increased in length.  
"When was the last time you took a bath, Tails?"  
"I guess, two days now." Tails replied. "But thanks, I feel real dirty as it is, without extra comments."  
"What did you do to your hair? Why's it grown so much?" Cream asked as she walked around Tails and ran her fingers through Tails newfound near shoulder length hair.  
"I guess since I've been so busy at the shop, I haven't visited a barbers in some time." Tails replied. Cream let go of Tails and walked back around to the front of him.  
"I see."  
"Back to my question, what's the matter?" Tails asked.  
"I was supposed to meet Amy and she's not here yet." Cream told him.

"Odd, it's not like Amy to be late to a shopping spree." Tails replied.  
"That's what I thought." It wasn't too long into their chat when someone covered Creams eyes from behind; startling her and making her jump and hide behind Tails. It was Rouge.

"Well, look who decided to miss out on some great deals?" Rouge shot, then noticed Tails' "new look". "Well, look who's decided to sport a rugged look."

Tails narrowed his eyes. "That's it; I'm going to the barbers..." He said, half sarcastic, half serious.  
"You should wash up first Tails." Cream said to Tails, walking out and looking at Rouge. "Have you seen Amy? We were supposed to meet today for shopping and it's been an hour." She asked.

"No, and I find it weird. And what's up with Fox boy all of a sudden, I like the new look?"

"Guess one of his contraptions isn't working properly." Cream replied.  
"I'm right here, I can hear you..." Tails said, eyes still narrowed in annoyance. "Stop talking like I'm in the third person."

Rouge looked at Tails. "So when did you start to wear jeans?" she asked the fox.

"The same time that the oil leaked onto my fur when i was working on the Tornado 3. It took me hours to scrub that out." Tails replied.

"Scrub... you will want to pre-treat that shirt too. And seriously, you need to stop looking at lolicon hentai. You're starting to sound like a girl." Then it hits Rouge. "Wait, you aren't gay, are you? I mean, it's fine if you are, but... seriously, are you?"

Tails dropped to the floor comically, then hopped up and yelled. "What the hell Rouge! Where did all that come from?!" He barked, and then gritted his teeth.

"Sonic told me about your little lolicon H stash... and besides, you do seem to rub up on him a lot and call it 'brotherly'. Maybe it's just me, but if you are gay, which I won't mind if you are, but if it's true, I better not see you dressing up for the Drag Queen Contest at Casinopolis."

"I am not gay, i have no interest in lolicon hentai and I do not have a stash of it or any kind of porn for that matter. And I certainly won't be dressing up as any form of Drag Queen anywhere. And since when to I rub up on Sonic?! I can't beleive you're insinuating that I'm gay, of all the..." Cream then cut him off, standing next to Rouge.  
"Oooh, it bothers him." She said.  
"Of course it bothers me! I'm not gay, I'm not!" Tails then tried to relax.

"Fine, I take it all back." said Rouge. "Well, I'm going to the bank to grab some more cash. I saw this jewellery set that is to die for. But then again, I might have to get that lacy lingerie set..." and off Rouge walks.

"I should have countered and called her a whore...Anyway, I'm off to get my tools." Tails said before he began walking off.  
"Um, Tails..." Tails stopped, looking over his shoulder. "Can i come with you? I don't think Amy's coming." Before Tails could reply. Sonic and Shadow appeared, walking. Shadow was typically grumpy.  
"What's the matter, Shadow? Did you lose?" Tails asked.  
"No, I won actually." Shadow replied.

"Wouldn't have if I didn't trip over that chilidog stand." Sonic replied.  
"Tripped over it?! You stopped and ordered, damn it!" Shadow barked at him.

With chuckles from Tails and Cream, the conversation continued.

Meanwhile, back with Rouge.

_Maybe I was a little too harsh on Foxboy..._ the bat thought and continued down the way. _I have to admit that he's still a young guy._ Rouge soon came along the beach and continued to stroll the coast, then her eyes caught a pretty sight. "Now way, Diamondiums... and pretty ones at that." Seeing the rare jewels, Rouge ran over to them and picked them up. "Well, I can probably get a good penny for these gems, or keep them myself."  
Suddenly, the gems burst, revealing their contained knockout gas and Rouge fell to the sand. "I should've known they were fake." was the last thing she said before becoming fully blacking out. Her feminine frame soon sunk into the sand and into a collection pod where Dr. Eggman was waiting. "Ho, ho, ho, capturing Rouge was way too easy." he said during his chuckle. "No matter, she always was a sucker for jewellery.

"But how do I explain how I did id so ingenuously? Hmm... I guess I caught her when she was trying to off my rocks."

"Serious? Amy stood you up?" Sonic asked as he, Cream and Tails walked toward the Tool Workshop in town.  
"Yeah, it's not like her. We're supposed to be best friends." Cream replied sadly.  
"Perhaps she fell ill and was unable to contact you, heaven forbid." Tails suggested, shrugging.

"Maybe." Cream replied. Tails looked at Sonic.  
"Sonic, just a question. Do I seem too...close...to you at times?" He asked.

"Well Tails, we're bros. We are close, but close like brothers. I guess you think of me as the positive male role model and I give you stuff to grow upon."

"Are you bothered cause Rouge called you gay, Tails?" Cream asked.

"I'm not gay." Tails answered, somewhat irate. "And Sonic, what the hell is with the knock on telling Rouge that I had a lolicon H stash?"

"So you do have a stash?" Cream question, before Sonic could answer.

"I don't have a stash." Tails answered.

"It was that one comic you had." Sonic explained. "I guess I took it the wrong way. And how come you don't have a stash? Everyone has a stash."  
"I don't have a stash." Tails said.  
"What's a stash?" asked Cream.

"A stash is like a collection, Cream." Tails answered.

"A collection huh? I guess I have a stash then." and Cream smiles.

"Lolicon H?" Tails questioned.

"No, not lolicon. I think I have some 'shot a con' magazine."  
"That's shotacon, Cream." said Sonic.  
"No, this is 'shot a con.' I even get discounts on Omochao Gun purchases."

"You completely lost me Cream..." Tails said.

"Blame it on Shadow. After the whole Black Arms incident, I managed to come across and use an Omochao Gun. Shadow saw this and I got a subscription to the magazine. I even get 30% discount on Omochao Gun ammo."

"Shadow has a magazine?!" Sonic questioned.

"No, it's a magazine he orders." Cream answered.

"Well, if you two don't mind. I'm gonna juice! Catch you later." And before anyone could say anything, Sonic pulled a Sonic boom right out of the mall in less than a second.  
"Yeah...see ya Sonic..." Tails said, sounding somewhat hurt.  
"You okay, Tails?" Cream asked.  
"I'm used to him doing that now. But, I should be heading back to the lab now." Tails replied.  
"Can I come? Since Amy never showed up, I have nothing to do." Cream asked.  
"Sure." And with that, the two left for the train station.

After getting off the train, the two wondered off towards Tails workshop.  
"So, Tails. How do you like your new toolset?"  
"Still can't believe you bought this for me. It shall come in handy indeed."  
"Mom said I should buy you a toolset." Cream replied.  
"But the most expensive one in the shop?!" Tails questioned. Cream simply shrugged.

After the two discuss the tools, Tails invites Cream to a meal. But Cream insists on cooking and tails hits the shower. A quick five minutes to clean off and Tails is out and feeling much better.

Tails dried himself off and took a brush from the bathroom side; he brushed over his new hair and then the rest of his fur on his body, finishing with his long bushy tails. After finishing and giving himself a once over brush off, he looked in the mirror, turning to his side, then the other side. _Hope she doesn't say anything. Oh well, might as well go out like I am. After all, it's more suspicious when I wear clothes despite the fact I'm clearly not going to be working on anything. _The fox thought. Tails left the bathroom and as said walked into the main sitting area, walking on into the kitchen.

"I hope you're hungry, because I made plenty for us." said Cream.

"Smells good." Tails said. "I'm starved."

"Well have a seat and I'll..." and Cream finally sees Tails' new look. "Wow, you look more... refined."

"How so?" Tails asked, looking at himself slightly.

"I have a more sophisticated look to you. Well, let's have dinner."

"Sure." And Tails heads off to make the table, and upon doing so, took a seat.

Cream and Tails serve themselves the food and begin having a normal meal. _I never thought Tails would look so.... Wow, I really can't say._ Cream thought, still amazed at how Tails looked. _It's like he became so... breathtaking all of a sudden. Maybe he just appears more handsome after a shower..._ Tails casually began to eat the food which was served and Cream couldn't help but stare at him from time to time._ Mom said I should give all, but not give up. Might as well try..._ "Hey, Tails, how about next time, we take a shower together?" Cream asked as she continued eating. This however made Tails choke on his food. _At last! A reaction!_ Cream thought happily, before she noticed Tails was seriously choking. She hopped up and ran over, patting him on the back to assist with the choking. In the end, Tails managed to swallow his food, then finish up with a glass of water.

"That was a close call." said Cream.  
"Yeah, too close." added Tails.  
"So, about that shower..."  
"Um, I'll think about it."  
Cream giggled. "There goes that girly voice that Rouge heard again."

"There was a girly voice?" Tails questioned.

"Yeah, but I think it was because you were startled." Cream answered and smiled.

"I see..." Tails then cleared his throat slightly. "Well, I'm still trying to enjoy dinner, so no more talk on sharing showers." Tails then took another bite.  
"Well, what about sleeping together." And thus, Tails choked a second time.

And Tails' chokes only continued. Cream's persistence in trying to make Tails sweat only made the fox choke. And after four saves, Cream decided to stop pursuing the subject matter.

The two go outside after the meal and have a stroll. "Sorry about seeming too forward. I guess I really should've quit while I was behind." Cream said with a sweatdrop on her cheek.

"Well, the impression I got, Cream, is that you seek a relationship with me. But I don't think I'm ready for a form of commitment. Still, who knows, I might be swayed." Tails said, trying to be reassuring. "Just try not to do it when I'm eating. I'd like to get a little older at least." He joked.

"I guess I can understand that much." and Cream felt a bit sad. _Well, I still have a shot. I just have to wait.  
_"Ah, young love. So many things that are exciting and new." and in comes Eggman to ruin the moment.

Tails narrowed his eyes and spoke sarcastically. "Oh no...here comes the giant egg with his plot-less waste of machinery building into some 'egg' named contraption." Cream took this time to hide behind Tails, who then barked at Eggman. "Whatd'ya want, egghead?"

Eggman smirks at the fox. "I wanna take your 'girlfriend' for a ride." The mad doctor answered. "But I think you might want to take her for one as well."

"What are you implying, Robuttnik?" Tails countered. "Whatever, you're not taking Cream anywhere." He stood in front of Cream defensively.

"You tell me, I heard you were a fan of lolicon and Cream's the only loli girl in the bunch."

"What the hell?! Did Sonic broadcast this on national television or something, where the hell did you hear something so ridiculous?!" Tails growled angrily.

"I found one of your magazines which is a catalogue for panties in petite sizes." Eggman laughed. "So unless you have a fetish that no one knows about, like buying these for yourself to wear in your spare time, or you're looking for something to put around her little waist..." and Eggman points at Cream, "I think you may have a Lolita delight in your mindset."

"However you got a hold of said magazine..." And Tails leaped for Eggman's shuttle. "..is **none of your business!**" And Tails performed a powerful tail-spin on the front of Eggman's shuttle like aircraft, causing him to spin around and move backwards comically. Tails landed and charged in for a second attack.

Cream watched as Tails charged and attacked using his tails. _I wonder if his tails were always that fluffy, or if it's just because of the shower. Then again, Tails has been exceptionally fluffy since I bumped into him in to-..._ "Aaahh!!" Before Cream could finish her train of thoughts, she was running out of the way of Eggman's shuttle, which crashed near where she was. Eggman pressed a button on his ship.  
"Gotcha!" He called and with that, His ship launched a mechanical arm, at its tip was a large globe like glass bubble which headed straight for a cowering Cream. Tails leaped in just at the last moment and pushed Cream out of the way, in exchange for himself falling victim to the glass bubble, which locked him inside. Eggman took to the air and lifted the mechanical arm to eye level.

"Loli loli lolis... I would get an adverb here, but I'll take what I have and run." joked Eggman.

"You're not going to get away with this, egg-for-brains." Tails told Eggman.  
"Of course I will. So be a good Fox and..." Eggman lifted his hand and slammed it on a button. "Be quiet!" The bowl then shocked Tails violently and knocked him clean unconscious. "Now for what I came for." Eggman looked towards Cream...who'd already ran away. "Curses...where did that rabbit go..." He looked around and spotted her heading toward the Train station in a hurry. "Fox season has ended, Rabbit season has begun! Let the hunt commence!" with that he shot forth after Cream.

Despite his shuttles speed, he was unable to catch Cream who boarded the train safely, just as it was about to leave. Eggman's shuttle was too big to follow.

"Ooooh that wascally wabbit! Oh well, I might as well get back to the lab." and Eggman's craft began heading back to his hideout. "Two out of three girls and a forced assistant should be more than enough to initialize and complete Project Chimera."

The doors to Eggman's base opened wide as he flew in with Tails in the pod. He hovered over an open area and dropped Tails, before landing his hovercraft and getting out. He walked over to the pit and snapped his fingers. Some of his well-programmed robots came in. "Yes, Dr. Robotnik!" They called to him. "Take the fox and analyse his body structure, perhaps be nice enough to cure him of that paralyzing shock I gave him. Then take his body and throw it in a cell until I can think of a decent way to persuade him to do as I tell him to." He ordered.  
"Yes, Doctor!" And the robots then dragged Tails frame away.

"Now, let's take a look at Subject A and Subject B." And Eggman went to the holding area where Amy and Rouge were held.

They were held inside large pods, similar to the ones Eggman kept the replicas of his old sonic Robot inventions. It appeared that Amy was the first to awaken as she was already trying to bust free.

"You'll never get away with this, you fat freak!" She yelled at Eggman, though her voice was slightly muffled by the container. "My Sonic will come and kick your ass so hard, you won't be able to shit for a month!"

"Such a feisty you lady... or is this because I ruined your shopping?" Eggman joked.

"Your humour is as lame as those stupid glasses of yours. And that moustache. I mean come on, it's about time that was shaved, don't you think? But hey, if you like the toilet cleaner look, suit yourself." Amy shrugged in mockery.

"And here I am ready to help you out. I have Sonic's 'love liquid' which can help you get what you want." Eggman said. "But I guess you-"  
"Dr. Eggman, analysis is complete." Eggman was interrupted but a message from his robot over the com link system.  
"Really now? And how is the captive?"  
"You will want to see the results for yourself."  
"I'm on my way."

Eggman cracks his knuckles. "I guess I have to tend to my prisoner. So be a good girl and think about what you're going to become, Miss Rose."

"Wha-! You're such an ignoramus, Egghead!" She yelled as Eggman left the room.

Eggman presses a button, which releases the knockout gas into Amy's pod, knocking her out. He then went over to the detaining centre where Tails' knocked out body lay restrained on a table. "This better be good." he told his robot.  
"Take a look right here." the robot mentions and shows Eggman Tails' goods.  
Eggman looks over Tails' package. "Huh, this isn't so bad... for fakes."  
"Fakes? Does not compute."  
"I guess I'll play dummy."

With that said, Eggman decides to reach for and grab Tails' manhood to examine it, only to find that it comes right off. What he saw shocked him greatly. _Well, this changes everything._ Thought Eggman

"I don't know what is more disturbing. The fact that this fox has fake gonads or the fact you grabbed a guy by their pride." A robot spoke, before getting Tails 'manhood' thrown at it, knocking it over. Tails is then podded and transported to where Amy and Rouge were.

Amy and Rouge finally come too, the girls are hanging by their wrists, which were bound by cables. Amy and Rouge's only form of clothing was a strip that went around their breasts. The band wrapped Rouge's wings shut and Amy was disarmed.

"Oh geez, now Eggies a pervert as well..." Amy moaned. "This band is so not my colour."

"Amy?" Rouge finally came around. "Well, at least I'm not alone. Can you fill me in on what's going on here?"

"I have no idea what's going on really." Amy said. "All I remember is shopping last night, getting captured by old egg butt. Waking up in some pod next to one you were in. Eggman talking about Sonic's 'love-juices' though I don't even want to know how he managed to get a hold of that. He mentioned giving me something i've always wanted before he knocked me out again to see to a prisoner. And here we are." Amy explained as best she could. "He also said to think about 'what I will become.'"

"Girl, you missed a shopping spree, they had this sexy lingerie...." Rouge said. "But before I could go to the bank and get more money, I came across some fake jewels and was gassed." Rouge was ashamed. "Cream's mad at you, but you can make it up to her if we get out of here."

"I think we have more concerning issues at the moment...Such as being tide up with nothing but a strip covering our nipples!" Amy then angrily tried to free herself, just making her swing left to right pointlessly till she stopped struggling and just moved like a pendulum.

"I can't believe we don't have anything for the lower goods. But I swear, Eggman will pay when I get free."

"Get in line, sister!" Amy countered.

"Just remember that we get free, find the prisoner of Eggman's and kick as much ass between rescue and escape."  
"Rouge, ever the spitfire." a voice came over the intercom, then from a levitating panel came Dr. Eggman. "Hello ladies, did you miss me?"  
"Fuck off, Eggman!" Rouge howled.

"I knew you were a lot of things, Eggman. But a pervert? Remind me to add that to the list." Amy added her two cents.

"Of course, you're jealous of Rouge's figure." Joked Eggman. "Anyway, welcome to my sinister plan. Your mission, which you have no choice to accept, is to participate in what I call Chimera." Amy began howling and cursing severely at the comment, making her once again swing about constantly. The comments naturally were ignored.

"What the hell is Chimera?" asked Rouge.  
"Good question," Eggman began, "but I have news for you. You two won't be alone in this mission, so let me introduce you to your friend in arms... or in this case, cables." It was at this time where Tails is lowered next to Rouge. The sight of the fox brought Amy and Rouge to a standstill. _Tails...._ Rouge thought.

Amy was speechless for a time before she turned her attention to Eggman again. "What the hell kinda trick is this?!"

"Well, I figured that I could get Cream, but Tails will do just fine." Eggman answered.  
"Tails, talk to me." said Rouge. "Are you conscious?"

Tails was stirring a little, but the electroshock from earlier prevented gaining consciousness.

"What the hell sick plan are you cooking this time, Eggbutt! What is this 'Chimera' crap?!" Amy barked.

"Well, like I said, it's what you will become." Eggman answered. Suddenly a tendril-like cable appeared. "Now let's get down to business. Chimera is a lovely project where.... Well, I think I will skip the details and let this little friend of mine do the work. So, which of you gets it first?"

"Doctor." A robot appeared. "Since the two conscious ladies are so curious. Why not use the fox to demonstrate just what the plan is for them? I'm sure they'll find it most enlightening." It suggested, with its monotone robotic voice.

"Hmm... I could do that, and even wake up our sleeping friend in the process." said Eggman.

"You leave Tails alone! You hear me! You'll never get away with this!" Amy barked.

"Well, someone's volunteered then." said Eggman. "Fine, you'll go next. I think I will demonstrate on my fellow brain first though. This will be something new for you, fox boy... or should I say..." and the tendril began to move towards Tails. "Fox**girl**!"  
"Foxgirl?" both Amy and Rouge respond.

Before they know it, the tendril found its forceful way between Tails' legs... penetrating her labia. The force woke the fox from her sleep, but Amy and Rouge were shocked to find Tails being female. Tails' screams were soon heard as the tendril wriggled inside of Tails' body. Soon, the two girls saw the appendage forcefully pushing itself inside of the fox's abdomen. Eggman laughed as he saw Tails' abdomen push inside and out of the fox's abdomen. Amy and Rouge could only cringe at the sight of seeing how the tip the "instrument" forcing its way into Tails' body. _I promise, this won't go without consequences._ thought Rouge.  
_My god... Tails is screaming as her body is violated for this so-called mission._ thought Amy.

Eggman laughed and watched with an evil intent. "I have to admit, Tails didn't have so much blood from my little friend forcing itself into her body. Perhaps you built something to deal with that hymen of yours." he said.  
"You're insane, Eggman." said Amy.  
"I know... and it looks like my little friend is just about through."

Afterwards, Amy and Rouge saw the wriggling of the tendril come to an end and Tails' Abdomen began to expand. Afterwards, the tendril left her body, followed by a slimy, purple coloured liquid oozing from her no longer virgin hole. Amy swore under her breath and Rouge growled. "What did you do to Tails?!" Rouge yelled at Eggman.

"She just met my friend, Chimera." Eggman answered. Then the tendril came around. "Well, how do you feel, Tails?"  
"I.... I.... You will pay for this." was all Tails managed to say before passing out again.  
Eggman laughed. "Well, it's your turn, Amy. Pay attention to what happens to her, batgirl. You'll meet Chimera next."

"Warning! Warning!" Called a robotic voice.  
"What? What's the problem?" Eggman questioned.  
"Turn your attention to the monitors. Sonic the Hedgehog approaches." The robot told him. And Eggman switched on the monitor, showing from a camera outside. And it was confirmed as the blue blur zoomed past the outside, trashing the robots.

Sonic sped through the rain of bullets, causing small ripples and dust to rise, however were not enough to phase the hedgehog. He leaped over some of the shots to the ground and homed in air-spin dashed and collided with one of the robots, rebounding off of one and pin-balling 4 more before continuing his speed toward the lab. Two large robots charged him and swung to attack, both using their inner arms which Sonic slid under caught and spun around a complete vertical 360, pulling the arms off and spin dashing through the doors.

Sonic sped through the halls, slaughtering the several surveillance defence cannons as he ran through, however, a door in front closed quicker than he did, and as he turned to go the other way, another slammed him in and spikes appeared on the roof.  
"Chaos...SPEAR!" A blinding light blew open the door, shot over Sonic and blew down the second door, Shadow dashed through and Sonic joined him just before the spikes hit the floor.  
"Better late than never, Shadow." Sonic spoke as they ran.  
"So I took the more scenic route. Let's just get this over with." They took continued down the hall before spin dashing the last door into the main halls where the girls were hanging.  
"Curse you, hedgehogs! Why do you always manage to foil my plans at the last possible second?!" Eggman barked. "No matter, one subject is more than enough."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but you're about to get punished." said Shadow.  
"Hold tight, we're gonna get you three down." said Sonic.  
"You two don't get it, but I will finish you off anyway." said Eggman.

Shadow warped towards Eggman while Sonic went to rescue the girls. Eggman fought trying to attack Shadow with clawed cables, but his attacks missed.

"You're way too slow, Eggman." said Shadow.  
"Says you." said Eggman...  
"Your attacks are too weak..."

Sonic's spin dash cut through one of the cables, setting Rouge free. "You okay?" asked Sonic.  
"Fine, but Tails isn't in good shape after what she went through." Rouge answered.  
Sonic was shocked. "She?"

"Get Tails, I'll free Amy."  
"Right." and Sonic ripped the back of the garment Rouge wore, allowing her to stretch her wings.

"Curse you, you miserable hedgehog." said Eggman.  
"Curse this!" Shadow yelled at Eggman. "Chaos Magic!" and Shadow snapped his fingers, causing a small explosion to the console. Meanwhile, Sonic and Rouge managed to free Amy and Tails. "Tails, speak to me." Sonic said.  
"Uhh...." was all that Tails managed to utter.

"Tails, is she..." Amy was concerned.  
"Still breathing, yes." Sonic answered and handed Tails' frame to Amy.  
Shadow appeared next to Sonic. "Let's finish this." he said.  
"Right." Sonic agreed. "Rouge, Amy, take Tails and run for it."  
"But what about you guys?" asked Amy.  
"Get out of here and get Tails medical attention."  
"Right." Amy and Rouge comply, and then make their escape.

Eggman managed to regain his controls. "You two miserable hedgehogs... I will make you pay." he told them.  
"Piss off, Eggman." said Shadow.  
"You'll pay for what you did to Tails." said Sonic.  
"You two won't make it out of here alive."

Sonic and Shadow began to roll into their respective spin balls and circled Eggman's area. The speed of their rolling around created a controlled tornado and even had charged energy. Eggman fired energy beams at the two hedgehogs, but missed and the energy blasts only seemed to power the electrically charged tornado. A nucleus formed in the controlled tornado in which Eggman saw with his own eyes. _That can't be good._ he thought. He then dodged a stray bolt of electricity.  
"Feel the power..." Shadow said.  
"...of our Atomic Strike!" Sonic finished.

The resulting explosion was a mixture of powerful winds and charged energy that totalled the lab. Afterwards, Sonic and Shadow appeared in a safe clearing. "That'll take care of him for a while." said Shadow.  
"Let's catch up to the girls." said Sonic and he sped off.  
Shadow followed Sonic. "You do know that Tails is with them."  
"And I found out that Tails is a girl."  
"You're kidding, he has a dick."  
"I know... but women know better."

"Seems a lot needs to be explained." Shadow said. He and Sonic then sped up to catch up with the girls. And as expected, it wasn't long before they'd caught up with them. They were clearly taking a small breather, Tails lying on the floor in her weakened state. The two hedgehogs stopped next to them.  
"So, how is Tails doing?" Sonic asked.

"Tails has seen better days, that's for sure." Amy answered.  
"But at least we need to get her medical attention." added Rouge. "Tails will be better off that way."  
"What's with the 'she' deal?" asked Sonic.  
"Tails' legs were forced open and a... thing penetrated her vertical line." Rouge answered.

"Seeing this forceful entry will haunt me for a while." said Amy.  
"We better get moving so Tails' condition doesn't get too bad." said Rouge.  
"Agreed." said Sonic. "I'll take Tails to Station Square Methodist and you can follow."  
"Hurry quickly, Sonic." said a worried Amy.  
"Hurry, did you forget how fast I can run?"  
"Must've been the gas."  
Sonic picked up Tails' weakened from and speeds off to the hospital.

Shadow stuck around with the girls as they also made thier way to the same location.  
"Do you have any idea what this 'thing' did?" He asked them.

"Only that it was called Chimera." said Rouge.  
"And it had Sonic's 'love liquid' as Egg-bag put it." said Amy. "But I doubt it since that liquid looked like it was a sort of chemical."  
"I sure hope Tails recovers from being... raped by Eggman's machine." and Rouge shuddered.

"We should have hurt him more." Shadow narrowed his eyes. "I did however manage to pick up a little present." Shadow then pulled out a Chaos Emerald.

"That can explain the coloring of that stuff Tails' insides got... well, I won't say." said Rouge.

"I don't know what that purple stuff was, but it definitely wasn't any part of Sonic." added Amy.

Meanwhile, Sonic had gotten Tails safely to the Methodist, and Tails had been given a once over. Sonic had explained in a very vague description just what he knew.

Well Tails, the girls filled me in on you being my little sis instead of my little bro." Sonic said. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

Tails sighed slightly. "I guess I didn't think you'd understand and would take it badly. You've always known me as you're 'little bro', every time I thought to tell you, I lost my nerve. In the end I decided, I'd rather keep lying and keep you as my friend, rather than lose it all to the truth." Tails replied, honestly.

"And how do you explain the train and bag of goods?"

"It's not that difficult to make artificial junk. Though, I'll admit I studied yours for a basic example when you were sleeping over once." Tails blushed slightly.

"I can keep that one from Amy." Sonic chuckled. "So, now that you've been forcefully discovered, how do you plan on telling everyone else?"

"I'd say I won't, but I'll think of that when the time comes. Hell, I probably won't need to. You know what a flabber-mouth Amy is. It'll take 2 days tops before its worldwide news." Tails joked a little, giggling a bit.

"And to think, Marine actually likes you. Won't she be shocked to find out that you're a girl?"

"Marine and Cream alike..." Tails added. "I dread to think those reactions. I mean, I expected you to fly off the handle, so you can just imagine how I think they'll react."

"Marine I can see, Cream can probably feel this with a better approach, but I think Vanilla will really flip. From what I've been told, she'd been trying to get you to make Cream a young woman." and Sonic shook his head. "I'll talk to Amy and the girls about this."

"Sonic..." Tails started. "What exactly happened to me?"

"I guess that's my cue." in come Dr. Quack. "Telling you straight, you've been raped. Mechanically raped, but raped nonetheless. I also had that purple liquid examined..."  
"And?" asked Sonic.  
"It's a spliced form of seminal fluid."  
Sonic fell backwards from his chair and Tails almost fell out of the bed. "You mean to tell me that Tails was raped and..."  
"Pumped 'full of spunk' as you youngins say." said Dr. Quack.

"One, that's just gross, And two, what does that mean for me?" Tails asked.

Sonic was returning to his seat. "Well Tails, see me in two weeks and we'll talk." Dr. Quack answered.  
"Seminal fluid..." said Sonic. "I'm not hearing this."

Tails put her pinky finger in her ear to scratch it, one of Sonic's traditional traits. "I think I'll pretend I didn't hear any of this..." She said, lying back on the bed.

"Good, get your rest, kid. You're gonna need it." said Dr. Quack.  
"Hey doc, can I have a word with you outside?" asked Sonic.  
"Sure."  
Sonic and Dr. Quack leave the room. "How long have you known that Tails was female?" asked Sonic.  
"I've known for a long time, I am her doctor." answered Dr. Quack.  
"I'm always the last to know."  
"She wanted my help with making a synthetic genitalia."  
"Of course."

"Yup..."  
"So how much of that seminal fluid found its way into Tails?"  
"Enough to flood the girl's insides."  
"Like a... creampie?"  
"Yeah. I will know in two weeks what is really going on, so pray for the best."  
"Of course."

As Sonic walked back inside the building, Tails was getting out of the bed. She walked two steps and then her legs gave way and she crumbled to her hand and knees.

"Tails!" Sonic shouts and goes to help Tails up. "Tails, lemme help you stand up."

"Thanks, Sonic...I guess I shouldn't try to walk yet, but I need some fresh air..." Tails complained as Sonic helped her to her feet.

"I see." Sonic walked Tails over to the window. "You were just raped by a machine... Er, sorry about that. But you shouldn't try to overdo your lower body. This will probably affect your attempts at flying too."

"Great, so I'm unable to stand and grounded too." Tails sighed.

"Not flying for a while won't kill you."

Sonic escorted Tails back to the bed, where she took a seat on it. "So, how do you plan on getting me around?" Tails asked. As if on cue, Dr. Quack came out with a wheelchair.

"I'm sure you can work your arms for that." Sonic answered.

"I guess..." Tails then lifted her legs onto the bed and laid back. It was at this point the girls and Shadow arrived. Shadow juggled the Chaos Emerald a little.  
"I think I'll keep hold of this for a while, Sonic." He said.

"Hey everyone, can you keep quiet about Tails being a girl?" asked Sonic.  
"I won't say anything." answered Rouge. "But I'm sorry about teasing you about it, Tails."  
"I'll pretend like I still don't know." Shadow answered.

"I won't say anything either." Amy said. Though Rouge conked her over the head. "Ow! What was that for?!" She asked.  
"I saw you cross your fingers." Amy then held her hands up.  
"Okay, I promise I won't say anything. But you should." Amy said to Tails.  
"Thanks Amy, as if i didn't have enough on my plate as it is, without breaking Creams heart and possibly Marines as well. But don't worry, so long as everyone knows the truth, and makes you happy, it's all fine and dandy." Tails rambled.  
"I...I didn't mean it like that..." Amy said.

"Amy, not this time... for once, keep things quiet." said Sonic.

Amy then slumped her shoulders, defeated. "Okay."

All right everyone, Tails need to rest, so get the hell out of here." said Dr. Quack.

And with that, everyone was cleared out of the room, and made their way out of the building as a whole. "So, what did the Doctor say anyway?" Amy asked Sonic.  
"You know. I'm just gonna go for a run...I need to think for a bit. See ya..." Sonic said, his tone not his usual cheery one, not even the slightest, if a hint of sadness and regret in it instead, and before anyone could say a word, he was gone in a single sonic boom.

"Well, I have a club to run, catch you guys later." said Rouge.

"Sure thing, Rouge. I'm going to head home myself, I need to wash away my memories, I'm going to have nightmares for weeks..." Amy replied. "What about you Shadow?"

"I'm going to hang around here, just encase the Doctor or Tails needs any of us, or the good mad doctor decides to return." Shadow replied.

"Well, look after her, okay? At least until Sonic gets back." Rouge said to Shadow, who simply nodded once as his answer. With the waves from the girls, they parted ways with Shadow, who closed his eyes and warped onto the roof of the building. He began to rest, with his head in his hands, lying on his back and watching the clouds.


	2. Chapter 2

Sonic leaned against the tree. He'd run out of the city deep past the Mystic Ruins forest to a Cliffside, where he'd sat there against the tree overnight, until he could watch the sun rise. _Damn you, Eggman. Your sick plans just hit a whole new level...What the hell have you done to Tails? I'll make you pay good for what you did, just you wait._ Sonic then yawned and stood, putting a finger in his ear, cleaning it slightly, before booting it into the Forest.

Back in the city, Shadow was still sat on the roof as the new day was dawning. He was juggling the chaos emerald he'd picked up from the lab.  
"Hey Shadow, have you been up there all night?" Amy just showed up. Shadow looked down on her.  
"Yeah." He replied.  
"Either you're really concerned or you have a boring life." Amy joked.  
"I'm just doing what that slack Sonic is supposed to be doing. Once he gets back, I'm taking off." Shadow huffed.  
"Geez, looks like you didn't sleep either." Amy narrowed her eyes. "Well, I'm going to check on Tails." Amy then walked into the building.

The hospital elevator was quiet... a little too quiet. Its content was a young Cream. _I sure hope Tails is okay._ She thought. _After Amy called and said Tails was rushed to the hospital last night, I was so worried._ She sighed at the fact that the elevator was still going up. _I hope these flowers will cheer him up._

The elevator comes to a stop and Cream steps out with her bouquet of yellow roses, then heads to Tails' room. Suddenly, Shadow appears next to her. She jumps back out of fright and the black hedgehog noticed this. "You shouldn't get so close." he said.  
"That was a scare." said Cream. "Please don't do that anymore."  
"I take it you're making a delivery."  
"Amy called me last night and said Tails was in the hospital, so I figured that I would bring this bouquet of yellow roses for him."

Shadow simply looked at Cream. _At least Cream still thinks Tails is a guy._ He thought.  
"Why do you look so concerned?" asked Cream.  
"I'm trying to be compassionate, especially since Sonic bailed out after Tails went to bed last night."

The two walk towards the room but don't quite enter yet. "Well, here we are." said Shadow.  
"Well, looks like you visitors come earlier than ever." said an approaching Dr. Quack.  
"I was here all night." said Shadow.  
"I was referring to Cream. Well, let's wake up sleepyhead for the morning IV."

Dr. Quack, Shadow and Cream walk inside to see Tails still asleep. Seeing the peaceful fox was enough to cancel any plots of waking her up, but Cream put the bouquet in the vase. "Yellow roses, I expected pink ones coming from you." said Dr. Quack.  
"They ran out." Cream said, though she was lying.  
"Cream, could you step outside for a moment?" asked Shadow.  
"Well, maybe it's for the best." and Cream left the room.  
Dr. Quack gave Tails her IV. "She really must be worried about Tails." he said.  
"It's a long story." said Shadow.  
"Try me, I need a keeper upper."  
"From what I was told, Cream's mother Vanilla is planning an arranged marriage between them. I don't believe it myself, but rumours usually are taken out of context."  
"That they are."  
"Vanilla is also trying to make sure Cream and Tails.... you know."  
"I'm sorry?"  
"Screw each other."  
"And I'm awake." Tails finally stirs. "Wh... what the hell is going on here..." she replies, then finally opens her eyes to see Shadow and Dr. Quack. "Man, what time is it?"  
"Early." Dr. Quack answered. "How do you feel?"  
"I feel like leaving."

Amy finally comes out of the elevator to see Cream. "Were you here to visit Tails?" she asked the young doe.  
"Yeah, but he's still asleep." Cream answered. "What happened to Tails, Amy?"  
"I promised I wouldn't tell you. Tails will explain everything in time, so you'll have to wait until then."  
"Not fair, I wanna know what happened!"  
"Cream, keep it down. Some of the patients are still asleep."  
"Just tell me what happened to Tails, I can take it. I was able to handle Cheese's death, so I can handle this too."

Amy was now in a pickle. _Cream is my friend, so I really should tell her, she seems so concerned but..._ Amy opened her mouth as if to tell Cream, however, halted to a slight flashback to the look on Sonic's face when he asked her not to say. _Sonic would never forgive me if I broke my word this time. _"I'm sorry Cream. But I can't break my word. You'll know in time. I'll tell you this much. Tails was just a little hurt before Sonic and Shadow rescued us from Dr Eggman."  
"Oh, well I hope he'll be okay. I wouldn't want anything to happen to him." Cream said.  
"Tails'll be fine, Sonic got he...him here just in time." Amy said, nearly spilling the beans unintentionally.  
"That's good. Well, I'll come back later. I should get back home." Cream said.  
"Okay Cream, I'll come over later and we can go shopping, since I unintentionally missed the last one." Amy said.  
"It's okay Amy, being picked up by Dr Eggman is never in anyone's plans, so you're forgiven." Cream said before leaving. Amy sighed slightly before entering the room Tails is in.  
"Hello again Shadow." She said.

Amy walks in to see Tails with Shadow and Dr. Quack. "Well Tails, at least you slept somewhat well." said Shadow. "I just hope you don't think this is all your fault."

"Why would I think it's my fault?" Tails asked.

"Most girls do that and end up going mad to the point they-"  
"All right, let's not go there." Dr. Quack cut in. "The last thing we need is to give Tails negative ideas."  
"Where the hell is Sonic?"

"Right here." Sonic said from the door behind Amy, who jumped slightly.

"You took forever, speedy. But at least you're here for Tails."  
"You really seem to have this caring thing down." said Dr. Quack. "Perhaps some of Maria's reasoning is wiping off of her and onto you."  
"Tch, I'm done playing Sonic's role. See ya, I'll go and update Rouge on Tails' condition." and off Shadow went.  
Dr quack rubbed his bill. "What's that guy's problem?"

"He has problems getting out of his hard-ass act." Amy said. "Deep down, I'm sure he's like a cream-cake." This made Tails chuckle a little. Sonic walked over to Tails and patted her on the head, ruffling her hair.  
"You okay, Tails?" He asked.  
"I'll be fine, but I'm getting tired of sitting in this bed." Tails replied.

"Well, let's wheel you around." Sonic said.  
"Absolutely not." said Dr. Quack. "I know how you work with people in wheelchairs."

"Still remember that, huh?" Sonic asked, scratching his head.

"Well, so much for that idea." Tails sighed.

"I could wheel her around." Amy offered.

"Maybe later." said Dr. Quack. "But for now, I have a favour to ask. Why don't you two go downstairs and bring Tails up some breakfast?"

"Hm, sure..." Amy said. She went to leave, and then turned as Sonic looked like he wasn't planning to go anywhere. "Sonic. That means you too." Sonic then sighed and followed.  
"What would you like Tails?" Amy asked.  
"Uuh, I'm not choosy, so just a sandwich or something, i don't mind." Tails replied.

The hedgehogs left and walked down the halls, no words between the two and the silence was bothering our favourite pink hedgehog. "So, Sonic...What do you thinks going to happen to Tails? I'm sure that what Dr. Eggman did to her was not just an act of perversion." She asked to break the silence.

"Something uncalled for." Sonic answered.

"Oh? What?" Amy questioned.

"Anything Eggman does is probably inconceivable."

"Now that those two are out of the room, I can talk to you personally about things." said Dr. Quack.

"Okay, talk away." Tails said, stretching her arms and fingers, clicking them slightly.

Dr. Quack pulled the chair next to Tails. "Well kid, I have to tell you that I ran a few tests of your inner body..."

"I'm expecting bad news..." Tails replied, looking at her doctor. "What're the damages?"

"Damages? You were mechanically raped. You're gonna be feeling sore in the hips for a while, so walking marginal distances will hurt. There was also a bit of internal bruising and tears as well."

Tails then sighed and lowered her head. "Damn Egghead..." She uttered. "So...my insides are messed up?" Tails looked at Quack.

"Just bruised and torn... and that will heal in time. The good news is you can do limited flying."

"At least I'm not totally grounded." Tails lightened up a little.

"And by the way, you have nine weeks to build up your strength."

"Huh? Nine weeks?" Tails questioned.

"That's right, nine weeks. I ran the tests four different times without change and... You're pregnant."

This is where it hit Tails. "I......I'm what?" She questioned her face in a mixed emotion of confused and frightened.

"Going to be bearing a pup in nine weeks. But given the circumstances, I can perform an abortion in two weeks." Upon the end of his sentence, Tails fell to her side, off of the bed and crashing to the floor. The shock of the announcement had caused her to feint it seemed.

Dr. Quack went to Tails' side. "Hey, let's get a nurse in here!" Dr. Quack yelled.

Back outside, Amy and Sonic were coming back with the food. They noticed a nurse run into the room, a minute after being called for and became concerned, heading over. However, a second nurse stopped them.  
"I'm sorry, it's best you remain out here for a moment." She said to them.  
"Why? What's going on?!" Amy asked concerned.

"Please, just let us handle everything."  
"Man, look at the staff." Sonic said as he ate his breakfast burrito. "I hope Tails is okay."

"I hope so too...You seem a little to calm at the moment Sonic." Amy said.

"Dr. Quack makes sure all of his patients are in good care. I mean, he delivered me and look at how I turned out."

"Fare enough, let's sit and wait then." Amy said, walking over to the bench and placing the food on the one next to her, leaving only the seat on her other side for Sonic.

Back inside, Tails had been returned to the bed.

"You know, you can't fall like that, or you'll never heal properly." said Dr. Quack.

Tails was barely conscious as it is, but conscious none the less. "Well excuse me...for not being able to fully accept information like that." She said weakly.

"Well, we might have to keep you here until the evening after a fall like that."

"I'm sorry; I guess I made you worry." Tails said, rubbing her head.

"Well, rest up, and make sure the next time you pass out is in the bed."

"I blanked; I didn't really have control over my own body." Tails said. "I'm going to sleep, I feel sick..."

Everyone left Tails' room and Dr. Quack walked over to Sonic and Amy. "Well, Tails passed out, but is doing fine." said Dr. Quack.  
"What is going on with her?" asked Sonic.  
"Patient confidentiality. Besides, I think it'll come better from Tails than it will from me."  
"But what about this breakfast burrito I got for Tails?"  
Dr. Quack took the breakfast burrito. "Since Tails went back to sleep, I might as well eat this. She isn't feeling too hungry this morning anyway."

Amy pouted. "Why does everyone keep things from me? I don't even know what's going on, other than..." Amy said, Sonic lifted his hand to hush her.  
"Stop, Amy...please, just stop..." He said, almost sounding like pleading.

Unknown to the group, Eggman had a flying cam that had been spying on them for some time watching through the windows. It was camouflaged as a bird.

"Ooh hoo hoo hoo. Those fools have no idea the true purposes of Project Chimera." Eggman laughed from his backup base. One of his robots was with him.  
"Excuse me doctor, could you please re-elaborate your plans?" It asked.

"The project is a new super weapon created using my genius. You see, by taking DNA samples of each of my foes during several battles and recordings of their battles from the past, I have created a single biological organism. However, as you are aware, this was unable to be created in a simple pod, so by using it to fertilise one of Tails eggs, it'll grow within her, once born I will snatch it from her. From there, I'll speed its growth, and then use its power to defeat that hedgehog once and for all. That foolish doctor thinks he can simply abort my creation, hahaha. Not likely, that fluid is powered by chaos energy; it's far too stable to be destroyed by an abortion." Eggman explained.  
"Chaos Emerald, sir?"  
"By using a chaos emerald, I was able to create and finalise the details to make the biological creation into the size of several sperm as it were, think of the creation as a pure creation of Chaos Energy. And with DNA from Shadow the Hedgehog, his title of Ultimate Life form will be passed on to my creation."

Rouge finished up serving another drink, and then walked down the counter to Shadow, who'd just finished a drink.  
"So, how's our newly discovered vixen?" She asked.  
"Not bad, but not good either." Shadow replied.  
"You know, you've been showing more concern than usual." Rouge commented.  
"Bah, I was only filling in for Sonic, I don't really care myself." Shadow replied. "Get me another."

"I hope she's doing okay... maybe I can get her a gift. What do you think Tails likes?"

"Her gender turned out to be different, but Tails is still Tails." Shadow replied.

"So, new jeans?"

Shadow nearly fell out of his seat, but recovered in time. "Just...forget it. Do what you like." He said.

"Hey guys, what'cha talking about?" Ask a familiar red echidna, who just approached.

"Well, look who decided to show up. What can I get ya?" asked Rouge.

"Beer." Knuckles said. "Who's this she you're talking about? Not many girls I know who get kicks out of jeans."  
"Then again, you don't know many girls." Shadow commented. Knuckles fell over, and then recovered.  
"What'dya mean by that?!"

"We're..." Rouge began. "Talking about Blaze. She likes to wear jeans now."

"I see, I guess I'm behind the times." Knuckles said calming from his previous rage.  
"That's what you get when you spend your days beating off next to the master emerald." Shadow commented again.

"You need to stop spending so much time moping around Angel Island." Rouge added.

"Someone's gotta guard the Master Emerald." Knuckles defended himself.

"Take the damn thing with you. You act like you can't let the island drop in the water where no aquatic life is in danger and go out. Things would be much easier if you did."

"You also make it sound like I've left it there." Knuckles said. "Anyway, I want some information. I heard something happened to Tails, I caught Sonic in the mystical ruins who told me just that the little guy was rushed into the hospital after another Eggman run in."

Shadow and Rouge looked at each other, then turned back to Knuckles. "I can't tell you everything, but I will say this." Rouge began. "Tails, Amy and I got captured by Eggman. While captive, Tails got... roughed up bad and had to be rushed to the hospital."

Knuckles looked like he was convinced and looked at Shadow. "Hope you and Sonic got Eggman good for it."  
"I'm sure he enjoyed his flight." Shadow replied. "If you'll excuse me, I got things to be doing." With that, Shadow took his Chaos Emerald and warped out of there.  
"What's his problem?" Knuckles asked.

"I guess he has a hero complex." Rouge answered. "Remember, Shadow isn't the 'hero' type as you know."

"Tell me about it, the black arms incident proved that when Shadow was all over the place." Knuckles grunted.

"Yet he still acted like a hard-boiled egg."

"Uh huh." Knuckles replied. "Well, hope that poor Tails recovers, but he's been through worse than a little beat down I guess."

"True. I still have the paper of when our fox saved Station Square from that missile." Rouge replied. _A simple beating, yes...but Tails is still a girl and no girl will recover easily from what she went through._ She thought.

Later that night, Tails was awake in her room, though the lights were off. She managed to make her way to the window and looked up at the full moon, shining down on her tear-filled face. _I had gotten so used to being a boy...I don't have the willpower to handle this kind of maturity. One minute Cream's talking about her romantic dreams...the next, I'm standing next to the window, crying, carrying a child inside of myself that I don't even know how it got there...What am I going to do now?_ Tails wiped her face dry, though it was slightly pointless as her tears were replaced.

Three raps are heard from her door, making Tails wipe her tears. "D...door's open. C...come on in." she said

Shadow opens the door and walks in. "Wasn't expecting you to be awake..." He said, closing the door behind him. "Where's the dimwit?"

"What dimwit... you mean Sonic?"

"Naturally." Shadow said, walking over. "Should you be out of bed?"

"I can't sleep."

"I see. I guess this place gets stuffy after being here to two days straight."

"At least I can fly short distances..." and Tails flies back to the bed. "What am I gonna do with myself, I feel so useless?"

Shadow walked over and sat on the bed, next to Tails.  
"You'll recover eventually, it just takes time." He told her.

"I've been ripped from the inside... I can't deal with this right now."

"I'm sorry Tails." Shadow said, sympathetically, which...quite frankly was out of character for him.

"Thank you, Shadow. I... I really needed that." and Tails just broke down into tears.

Shadow was caught by surprise, not knowing quite what to do. _Ahh...shit, now what? _He thought. Whilst Tails simply cried, Shadow hesitated on touching her, however, eventually put his arm around her and gave her a shoulder to cry on, which she took without hesitation. Tails just let her tears flood from her eyes. _I'm used to being forced to grow up, but not so drastically. One day, I'm a girl trying to be a guy... and now I'm nine weeks from motherhood..._ she thought. _I'm not ready for this sort of thing..._

Shadow used one hand to stroke her head gently, the other to stroke her back, trying to be as soothing as he can, considering his usual character.

After another 2 minutes, Tails finally calmed down a little and had separated from the shoulder provided for her.  
"Feeling a little better now?" Shadow asked.  
"No...but it helped a little I guess." Tails replied.  
"Good." Shadow said. "Anyway, would you like me to find...Sonic?"

"If you can, please do."

Shadow nodded, then stood and walked to the door. Then thought better of it. "You know, I actually don't think I should leave you here, so...how bout some fresh air?"

"I could really go for some fresh air."

"Good, I should be able to get you back here before the Doc knows you're missing." Shadow said as he walked across the room and collected the wheelchair. He walked it over to the bed next to Tails and offered her a hand to help her shift into it.

As Shadow and Tails skate off during the night to search for Sonic, the Rabbit house wasn't as joyful. "Cream, you haven't even touched your food." said Vanilla. "Are you not well, honey?"  
"Mom, Tails is in the hospital because Eggman did something to him..." Cream said. "I can't eat, I feel so responsible for what happened to him."  
"Now Cream, that isn't your fault. Tails rescued you and-"  
"That could've been me..." and Cream broke down into tears. "It should've been me, not him!"  
Vanilla consoled her daughter. _Poor, poor Cream. She feels at fault for what happened to Tails._ She thought. _It isn't her fault that Tails is in the hospital... But I doubt she will believe that._  
"Oh Mom.... I don't know what I'm gonna do with myself." Cream said through her tears.  
"Tails will pull through this, he's very strong-willed."  
Suddenly, the doorbell rang and four raps followed. This broke the moment for the mother and daughter as Vanilla went to open the door. While this happened, Cream tried to stifle her tears. _I can't bear to imagine what Tails went through..._ she thought.  
Vanilla opened the door and was happy to see a familiar face. "Good evening, is Cream home?" said a certain lavender coloured cat.  
"I am so glad you're here, Blaze." Vanilla said. "And, who are you?"  
"This is Marine." Blaze told Vanilla. "Marine, this is Cream's mother Vanilla."  
"Good evenin', ma-am." Marine greeted.  
"Come in you two. Cream, you have company."  
Cream walked into the front room to see her company, than ran into Blaze's arms. "I'm so glad to see you." she said._  
So this is Cream, eh? _Thought Marine._ She looks around my age... maybe younger.  
_"I overheard that Tails was in the hospital from Amy." Blaze began. "She also told me that you weren't taking this so well."  
"We plan on going to visit him tomorrow." said Marine.

"I see." said Cream, then she notices Marine. "So you're Marine, huh? Blaze told me about you after the end of the second EX Grand Prix. I would be in a more cheery mood, but-"  
"You don't have to explain, luv. It happens." said Marine. "Tails is a good mate, and I plan on visiting the men of my crew."  
"Your... crew?"  
"Long story, but I might as well tell you since we have a lot of time on our hands." said Blaze.  
"Good." said Vanilla. "I'll make some tea."  
"You mates havin' suppa?" asked Marine.  
"You can have mine, I'm not hungry." Cream answered.  
"Strewth!" and Marine took Cream's seat.

Amy was at home trying to enjoy her bath, but still couldn't relax. _I should go and visit Tails tonight._ She thought. _Then again, I should let Tails rest. I really hope she'll be okay for tonight. If I keep worrying about Tails, it'll never bring her spirits up to where they were before... But I swear, Eggman will get his the next time I see him. I'll even make sure to use my good hammers to bludgeon his sorry ass._ With that, Amy sank into the bubbles of her bath.

Knuckles was at Club Rouge enjoying the last bit of Last Call for the night and Rouge was still behind the bar. "Damn, you sure can table a lot of my customers." she said.  
"At least I'll wake up tomorrow." said Knuckles.

Tails and Shadow sped through the city, Tails was having a blast, laughing as Shadow effortlessly evaded every possible object in their path. Having ran for a good 30 minutes without a sign of our favourite blue blur, Shadow stopped near a fast food trailer.  
"Are you hungry, Tails?" He asked.  
"A little, I guess." Tails replied.  
"Well, let's grab a bite to eat." Shadow suggested as he walked Tails over to the trailer. The two grabbed some chips to go and Shadow walked Tails into the park. He parked Tails up next to a bench, then picked her up by her back and legs and sat her on the bench, then took a seat next to her. The two opened their respected bags and began feasting on the fresh chips.  
"So, what's happening, do you know?" Shadow asked. This caused Tails to stop eating and stare at her chips.  
"I do." She replied. "But, I'd like to just ignore it for now."  
"Understandable." Shadow replied. He heard what sounded like water drops hitting the paper of the chip wrapping. He looked at Tails who was crying again and patted her on the shoulder. "What's happening anyway?" Tails wiped her eyes dry, sniffling slightly.  
"I'd like to tell you, Shadow, but...I have to accept it myself before I can handle everyone else for now." Tails cried.  
"There, there. Don't cry anymore, okay?" Shadow said, rubbing her shoulder softly. Over time, she calmed down a little.  
"Anyway, I heard from a very unreliable source that you're trying to get hitched with Rouge, how's that going?" Tails asked. This took Shadow aback.  
"Wait, who told you something like that?!"  
"The one you know as dimwit." Tails replied.  
"Damn Sonic. I knew he'd get the wrong opinion." Shadow grunted.  
"Huh?"  
"Well, it was in club Rouge, Amy shoved Rouge who fell on top of me and our lips...connected. But I'm not trying to get hitched with her, she doesn't interest me like that. She's a good friend and all but..." Shadow tried to explain before being cut off.  
"My, my. Shadow admitting he has friends? This is a new one." Tails interrupted.  
"Well...so I might have one or two, what's wrong with that?" Shadow questioned.  
"Nothing, it's just not every day you admit that."

The two continued to feast on their food, though it was sometime before another word was spoken.  
_I have so much coming up at once. 9 weeks and I'll be a planet. So I have only 3 or 4 weeks before I really start showing. Which means only that time to decide the best course to tell Cream the truth...god damn Vanilla is going to buy a chain-gun for this one..._ And Tails then sighed.

"Something the matter?" Shadow asked.  
"Just having premonitions of how Vanilla is going to butcher me..." Tails replied.  
"I see. Well, if it makes you feel any better, both myself and Sonic will be looking after you, from any danger." Shadow said.  
"I thought you didn't care."  
"Sonic may be the hero, but even he'll have his limits on how long he can protect you. He doesn't like to admit it, but he has to sleep too." Shadow said calmly defending himself.  
"Thanks Shadow." Tails said.  
"For what?"  
"For this, I would have killed myself if I had to stay stuffed up in that hospital room any longer."  
"Not a problem, but no suicidal thoughts, okay?"  
"Sure."

After finishing their food, Shadow helped Tails back into the wheelchair and the two sped off back to the hospital before someone noticed Tails was gone.

Not being so lucky, as once they arrived, Sonic, Amy and Rouge was already here and a not so happy Dr. Quack.

"So, did you have a fun time out?" asked Dr. Quack. "I hope this was worth the escapade of night air, because I'll need to run some tests to see what your limit of walking is."

"Was it wrong to want some fresh air?" Tails questioned.

"Let's say you had another black-out episode like on the bed earlier. With you out and about like that, who knows how your condition can change. You may seem like it's the end of the world, which I don't blame you for feeling that way, but at least understand that you need to be at least 90% recovered before I can release you."

"It's my fault." Shadow took the blame. "With Sonic not here and me sent to find him, I felt it wasn't a good idea to leave Tails alone. What if the Doctor returned to take her again, she's hardly in a state to look after herself as she is and you're not likely to be able to defend her alone, Doctor."

"Nevermind, what's done is done. Just get me back to the bed." Tails sighed.

"Yes, back to bed with you. I can run your tests tomorrow, young pup. As for you Shadow, not everyone is an 'Ultimate Life Form' who doesn't need to apply to rules and regulations. But it's nice to see you actually caring for a change."

"Bah..." Shadow said looking away. "Enough with the impressions that I care crap."  
"But Shadow, what about what you said earlier?" Tails asked, looking up at him.  
"What did Shadow say?" Rouge asked, wanting the juicy gossip. Tails looked at her.  
"Oh, just that he loved me and couldn't bear to part with me." She replied. Shadow then let go of her wheelchair and backed off.  
"Hey wait a minute! I never said anything of the sort!" He retorted. Tails simply giggled as well as the rest of the group. Shadow grunted.  
"Meh, that's the last time I show concern for anyone..." With that he took his chaos emerald. "Chaos Control!"  
"Shadow, wait?!" Sonic called, but it was too late, the emerald flashed Shadow away.  
"Aww, I think you hurt his feelings Tails." Amy giggled.

Dr Quack took Tails chair and pushed her back inside the building. "Time for some more rest, but your company can stay for a little while." He said.


	3. Chapter 3

Back at Vanilla's house, things were coming to a close. "Well, that's the story." said Marine.  
"Quite the story you told there." said Vanilla.  
Cream wasn't so happy. _Now I have competition.... great. _She thought.  
"Well, I'm gonna turn in for the night." said Vanilla. "Feel free to camp out in the living room." and Vanilla went to her room.

Marine seemed to have moved almost in an instant to the living room, where she pulled out a tent bag, causing the other two to fall over comically.  
"I don't think she meant literally set up camp, Marine..." Blaze said, with a sweatdrop on her head.

"But it's more fun this way." said Marine. "C'mon, live a little, it'll be bonzor wicked." and Marine sets up a second tent bag. "This one will work good for ya."

"Sometimes I don't know why I bother." Blaze sighed.  
"Somehow, I agree." Cream added. "Well, I'm going to my room, whatever you do Marine, don't set up a camp fire in my living room." She asked. Marine was holding two logs of wood.  
"Spoil sport." She replied. "Fine, I'll use the fireplace..." pouted Marine. "Sleep well, luv."

_Love..? I'll never get used to that._ Cream thought as she made her exit. Blaze then took a lie down on the sofa.

The next day, Cream woke and stretched, only to be scared half to death to the point she fell out of bed and conked her head on the cabinet to a loud bang from the kitchen. She quickly ran out of the room to find out what was going on, only to see Marine holding a pan with a black pancake in her face in the kitchen.  
"Smmmhhhpphh smhhpphh mmhhhm wommm." She said, muffled by the pancake.  
"What are you doing in here? You scared me half to death!" Cream yelled.

"I was trying to make flapjacks." Marine answered. "Don't you like flapjacks?"

"I love flapjacks." Cream said. "And I also love having a kitchen intact, let me do it..." Cream said as she took over in the kitchen.

After serving up a fatality-free breakfast, the three sat around the table to eat. Vanilla had made her way out of her room by this point.  
"Good morning girls."  
"Mom, how did you not hear the nuke in the kitchen too?"  
"Good old ear plugs, stopped the noise of the screaming cat." Vanilla said cheerily.  
"Yeah, next time Marine, can you please not sing around the 'campfire'?" Blaze asked.

"Pass me a flapjack, luv." said Marine. "You know, we should all go visit Tails today. He'll probably flip when he sees all of us."

"Why's that?" Blaze asked. Cream passed over a flapjack, as 'ordered'.

"Well, I doubt he'll be prepared to see all of us." said Marine.

"I agree." Cream said. "Therefore, I should see him first."

"You? He always sees you, I should get first dibbs."

"I knew him first." Cream countered.  
"Yeah, but I bet you've never had a close up on his nadgers." Marine countered back, before sipping a glass of OJ.  
"Excuse me?"  
"His meat an' two veg, the mouse in the house, trouser snake, his package. You decide, I've got more." Marine explained.  
"I...wha..." Cream stuttered, blushing a little.  
"Since when have you gotten that close to Tails?" Blaze asked.  
"They were a little out in the open when he was workin' on one of my ships." Marine told.

"I...I'll have you know me and Tails are very close. Only a few more days and we would have taken each other's virginity, if this accident didn't happen." Cream blushed furiously.  
"Oh, so you're advancing a little from last time, Cream?" Vanilla questioned.  
"I got a reaction." Cream replied.  
"That's good."  
"Yeah, but a reaction is hardly the borderline of cherry poppin'." Marine stated. "I can make that boy sweat, I tell ya. If any of us'll take his virginity, it'll be me."

"Enough!" Blaze yells, hands are fireballs. "We're all going to visit Tails and no one mentions how much they wanna get laid by Tails. Or so help me, I'll fry your lower lips!"

"Strewth mate, tingy bit jealous, are we? Didn' know you wanted a piece of Tails mojo too." Marine said, slightly frightened by Blaze's outburst. Cream however was typically on the verge of shitting herself.

_I have to admit, Blaze really knows effective conflict resolution._ thought Vanilla as she sweat-dropped. "I better go too, just to send my best wishes." said Vanilla. "Blaze, make sure the girls don't go sexually ballistic while I go and get my purse."

"Will do." Blaze replied with visible flames in her eyes, which scare the other two girls into complete utter paralyses.

After some sort of calm, the four ladies went to the hospital to see Tails. When they got to the hospital, the four saw Amy with hammer in hand while dosing on and off of sleep. "Amy, are you..." Vanilla started.

Amy shot up ready to swing. "Get away from Tails!" she yelled.

When the hammer came down, it only slammed into hospital floor. "You really haven't been getting much sleep, have you?" asked Cream.  
Amy regained her senses. "Sorry, it's been a tough couple of days." Amy said. "B... Blaze, is that you?"  
"Yes, and I brought Marine with me." Blaze answered.  
"Mornin' to you too, luv." Marine greeted.  
"Marine, this is Amy."  
"Sonic has told me about you, luv." said Marine.  
"Really?"  
"He said you were bonzor scary."

Marine then looked back and forth, everyone had ducked behind something. "What? What's going o-..." It was at this point a large shadow covered the unexpecting Raccoon. She looked at Amy, and Amy appeared as the devil himself.  
"He said what?!" Amy boomed, Marine then began to panic.  
"H-h-h-h-h-h-he.. he.. he..said you were lovely and that he'd do anything to protect you." Marine said in fear, it was at this point that the atmosphere returned to normal.  
"Oh Sonic, I knew you loved me inside." and thus Amy went into love-world. Cream, Vanilla and Blaze walked over.  
"Nice save, a tip for you though. When it comes to what Sonic says about Amy...don't be honest in front of her." Cream told Marine.

"Morning ladies, I see you've been well." said Dr. Quack. "And who are you?"  
"I'm Marine." Marine answered.  
"I see."  
"Is Tails awake?"

"Yes, and I believe he can use some company. And Miss Rose, you can go on and head home."  
"But I..." Amy said.  
"Trust me; I don't need you here with a temper like that."  
"Okay, I'm going home." and off Amy went.  
Doctor Quack showed Vanilla, Blaze, Cream and Marine to Tails' room.

Inside the room, Tails was lying under her covers looking at her nails slightly, she bit one of them to even it out, not bothering to look who just walked in, expecting it to just be the doctor or Amy.

"Tails, you don't have to hide, it's only a bit of company." said Dr. Quack.  
Hearing the doctor's voice, Tails reveals herself from the covers to see his visitors. _Oh great...._ she thought.  
"Tails, you look like you really have changed." said Marine. "I did a bit of changin' myself, mate."  
"That's great." Tails said. "And Blaze and Vanilla are here too."  
"I'll leave you girls to have your chat with Tails. There are other things I need to look into." said Dr. Quack as he left the room. _Blaze is a strong girl, she can handle a certain bad doctor if the need arises._ He thought.

"Are you okay, Tails?" Cream asked worried as she walked over. "You're not hurt are you? What happened?"

"I heard it was serious." Blaze added.  
"I do hope it's nothing that serious." Vanilla commented. "I hope you're not in this hospital for too long. I know what it's like to be crammed in these dull rooms for days."

"Let's just say things could've been better for me." said Tails.  
"Crikey, I can tell you've been dosed up too much." said Marine. "Your voice sounds like they've been givin' you the 'happy drug' a bit."  
"No, just morphine." Tails cleared up. "What brings you here, Blaze, other than seeing me?"

"Bits and pieces that are of no real concern at the moment." Blaze replied.  
"So, what exactly happened?" Cream questioned again, persistent.  
"Now, now, Cream. I'm sure Tails will tell us in his own good time." Vanilla told her daughter. "Let's let him recover first, shall we?"  
"Yeah...I guess. I'm worried though." Cream replied.

Tails looked over to the side. "Hey, lock the door." the fox said.  
Marine walks over to the door and locks it. "Okay mate, we're all good." she said.  
"I will tell you all what's up, but just promise that you won't hate me." said Tails.  
"Hate you? You'll always be part of me crew... even if you're dying." said Marine cheerfully.

Blaze looked at Marine. "Let's hope that Tails dying is not the case." She said.

"I'd never hate you, Tails." Cream replied.  
"Yeah, not anything that happened is your fault." Blaze added.  
"And you sacrificed yourself to save Cream, what reason would make us hate you?" Vanilla asked.

"Okay, here's the deal..." Tails began, then took a breath. "The truth is... My dick and balls were synthetic materials. I'm actually a girl... and I was born that way."

And silence struck the room. None of the girls could believe what they just heard.  
"Okay...that's not funny, Tails." Blaze said.

"You're really a girl... but you don't have tits." said Marine.  
"Some of us develop at different rates." Cream backed away from Tails slightly. She was clearly in denial.  
"No...you're lying..." She said.

"This is a real shocker.... but I'll play along, mate." said Marine, then flipped the cover up.  
"What are you doing?"  
"Spread 'em and show me the money." and Marine managed to lift up Tails' medical gown and all four of the girls saw Tails' lower vertical line. "Whoa..."  
Blaze fainted and Vanilla left the room, after unlocking it again.

Cream turned away and gripped her head. "This isn't true, this isn't true, this isn't true." She repeated in denial. "I'm gonna wake up, I'm gonna wake up." She chanted to herself.

"I can't believe this." said Marine. "You're a girl like me."  
"I told you." said Tails.  
"Relax mate, I have a newfound respect for you."

Cream ran out the door and slammed it shut and headed straight for the open elevator, getting inside it and mashing the buttons. She didn't care where it took her, she just wanted out. Back in the room, Blaze was just coming around from collapsing.

"Great, Cream and Vanilla bolted on me." said Tails.  
"Let them run, mate... er, luv." said Marine. "That scared the bejeezus out of them."  
Tails wasn't happy. "And you're going to bring them back here."  
"Me... but what if they-"  
"Go and get them!" Tails yelled.  
"Orrioght, I'm going..." and off Marine went to pursue Cream and Vanilla.

With Marine gone, Blaze took a seat and rubbed her head.  
"Nothing in my life has made me pass out before, but this..." She uttered.

"Thanks, Blaze. I really needed this." said Tails.  
"Actually, you need a little more than what is going on." and in walks Dr. Quack. "I figure that it's best you get out of the hospital."

"Does this mean my services are needed?" Blaze asked.

"Yes. Either way, you're out of here today." and Dr. Quack stretched. "Keeping you here won't do you any good."  
"We can't go yet. Marine went to grab Cream and Vanilla." said Blaze.  
"No exceptions. You're getting the boot and you Blaze will be taking Tails out of here."  
"Well, at least I get to leave." said Tails.  
"Yes, but make sure to take care of yourself." said Dr. Quack. "And remember that you are limited to one meter of walking and flying radius."

So Blaze stood, grabbed the wheelchair and walked it to the side of the bed, where Tails got out of the bed and carefully into it. "Tell Marine we're outside then please." Blaze asked the doctor.  
"Oh, is there any time I should come back?" Tails asked.  
"Hm? What for Tails?" Blaze questioned her.  
"Just to check up." Tails replied, covering the 2nd half of the truth.

"I'll call you." Dr. Quack answered

"Okay." Tails replied, before being carted out of the room. "He seemed awfully keen to get rid of me..." Tails said to Blaze.

"Let's get you somewhere safe." said Blaze.

Dr. Quack watched Blaze and Tails go. _If Eggman does decide to attack and come after Tails here, she won't be safe._ he thought. _Also, if there is someone else besides Sonic or Shadow that can hold their own against Eggman, it's Blaze._ _Well, at least she won't be a sitting duck in a hospital._

Meanwhile, Marine had caught Cream on the roof. She saw Blaze leaving the building with Tails from the top, then walked over to Cream.

"Look at that, Blaze and Tails are leaving." said Marine. "Come on luv, shake your knickers."

"I don't care..." Cream said sadly. "Leave me alone..."

"Well aren't you grateful.... Tails goes to the hospital for you, pours his... er, her heart out to you and now you're like this? Some feeling you have for Tails...." and Marine heads for the door. "When you're done being selfish, let a girl know. I when I say 'let a girl know', I'm not talking about myself. What a drongo!"

Cream turns her head to Marine, then leaps off the building. As she lowers the ground, she flaps her ears violently to reduce speed and hover slightly before letting her feet touch the ground. She walks over to the bench and takes a seat.  
"Am I....really being selfish? When the man I love turns out to be a woman?" She asked herself. It was at this point when Vanilla sat next to her daughter.

"Believe me, this is hard to stomach myself." said Vanilla. "But this isn't about us, it's about supporting Tails. Besides, who knows what she went through by the hands of that horrible doctor."

"I know...It could've been me." Cream said. Then she put on a strong face. "Okay. I'm gonna help Tails, even if Tails isn't a boy, he-...she...is still my friend."

"Yes, but you'll need another approach first."

"How so?"

"Things have changed and I can sense a part of you is still upset over what we just found out. I know I'm still a little mad knowing that Tails is a girl. I almost had my daughter lose it to another girl..." she giggled. Cream fell out of the seat comically.

She stood up again. "Mom! Don't say such things in public!" She cried out, but not too loud.

"It's only a joke, honey... unless you still want to go for tuna tacos."

Cream fell over comically again, this time deciding to stay put.

Marine walks by. "Tuck your legs, luv. Gawkers can see your knickers." she said. "And I think I can get me some like that."  
"Don't make fun." said Vanilla.

Cream leaped up. "I'm sorry I was so rude, Marine." Cream said, bowing to her.

"Now now, luv, relax. I'm sure you just need a good spa."

"Maybe." Cream said.

Meanwhile, Blaze and Tails were sat on a bench near the building.  
"What do I do now?" Tails questioned. "Everything's so messed up." She rubbed her stomach a little.  
"Hungry?" Blaze asked.  
"Um...yeah, I guess." Tails said, making an excuse.

Blaze looked around and saw a Cafe. She then back flipped over the back of the bench and pushed Tails wheelchair towards it. As she entered, Tails noticed Tikal and Knuckles were here, Shadow too, but he was sat in the corner with a coffee or something, reading the daily paper. Knuckles and Tikal failed to notice the two walked in also.

_Well, looks like Knuckles gets out after all._ Tails thought as she saw the two echidnas that appeared to be socializing.

After getting some goods to go, Shadow walked over to Tails and ruffled her hair.  
"You okay?" He asked.  
"Yeah, finally been released." Tails told him.  
"That's good, that place sucked." Shadow commented, making Tails laugh. The familiar voices got the attention of Knuckles and Tikal, who then called them all over. Tails was pushed over, but Shadow headed to leave.  
"Shadow, where're you going?" Tails asked.  
"I don't fit in with your crowd." He said.  
"Get over here now and commune like a civilised person." Tails ordered with narrowed eyes.  
"Nice try, but no." Shadow said, before leaving.

"It figures, you don't change off of the Extreme Gear, do you?" and up walks Blaze. "I know what it's like being a loner, but seriously... mellow out for a change."

"Humph." Shadow huffed, ignoring Blazes comment, continuing on.

Blaze shook her head. "So, are you going to introduce me, Knuckles?" she asked.

"Tikal, this is Blaze, Blaze, this is Tikal." Knuckles introduced plainly, before drinking his drink. Tails narrowed her eyes.  
"Blunt as ever, ey knucklehead?" She asked. This made Knuckles choke on his drink, and it came out his nose. The girls simply backed away slightly as he recovered.

The girls laughed. "Charmed." said Tikal.  
"Agreed." said Blaze. "And that's some pretty nice jewellery."  
"What can I say, I know fashion."  
"Maybe you can get some of that sense too, Blaze." joked Tails.

"What do you mean by that?" Blaze questioned.

"Let's say you need to expand your wardrobe." said Tails. "Even I put on pants every now and again."  
"When you start wearing panties, then we'll talk." said Blaze.  
"You probably aren't wearing those either."

"Anyway, how are you Tails? Knuckles was just saying you were in the hospital." Tikal asked Tails.  
"I'm struggling with issues far beyond my maturity levels." Tails replied.  
"Huh?" Tikal questioned.  
"It's nothing to concern about, I'm okay."

"Well, let's grab a bite to eat." said Blaze.

So, Tails pulled up to the table and the food was placed on the table as Blaze took a seat. The 4 began talking about general chit chat.

"So, what has been going on as of late?" asked Tikal. "All I heard was you were in the hospital and now you're out?"

"Well, Cream was trying to pull me before Eggman dropped in." Tails said.

"She was trying to get you off?" Knuckles questioned. "Looks like you're in the game!"  
"Not that kind of pulling, you idiot. She was giving suggestive ideas." Tails replied.  
"Such as?" Tikal asked.  
"Sharing a shower, sleeping together. That sort of thing."

"Well, She certainly has become bold as of late." said Tikal.  
"This coming from Cream is interesting." said Blaze, acting like it wasn't really happening. "But then again, she does like you. So what else happened?"

"Eggman came to pick her up in some pod, took me instead as I saved Cream." Tails said. "I was then knocked unconscious and I don't wanna tell you the rest. Damn electric volts...painful." Tails explained.  
"I see, so that's why you were in hospital." Knuckles nodded slightly.  
"Uhh...yeah, electricity can kill and all if your body takes too much or takes it the wrong way." Tails replied.

"That's worse than how my father would torture people." said Tikal.

Tails rubbed her head a little. "Can we...please talk about something else now?" She asked. "Having gone through hell and still there, I'd like to generally just forget for now."

"Well, I would like to say that I'm working on a new lingerie line." said Tikal. "I may need a few helpers to model for me. Why not try it out, Blaze."  
For the first time in her life, Blaze's face turned red as a beet. "You want me to do what?!" she shouted. "I can't model like that, it's in-dignifying."  
"Come on, I bet you look sexy in some lace."  
"No way, get Amy or Rouge to do it." Knuckles was trying to keep from laughing, as Tails was simply looking between the two.

After a good 5 minutes of chat, the crew had finished their food and had left the cafe. The group was about to split up and head their own ways.  
"Well, I hope you recover soon Tails, the sight of you in a wheelchair is not a pleasing one." Tikal said. "And Blaze, the offer remains open." Blaze blushed again.  
"I think the answer remains also." Blaze replied. And the four parted ways.

"Why not Blaze, you're figure is beautiful. You should be proud to model clothes." Tails said.  
"Do you know what Lingerie is?" Blaze asked.  
"Of course, I've tried my fare share." Tails replied. Blaze fell over.  
"Since when?!" She questioned.  
"Come on, you think that just because I've pretended to be a boy my whole life that I don't do girly things in my own time?"

"Fare enough...What're your sizes anyway?" Blaze questioned.

"I'd... rather not discuss that." Tails answered.

"Now look who shied up, hm?" Blaze teased.

"Well, you're older than I am. I can't model for Tikal, its unethical..."

"I guess." Blaze replied. "So, what would you like to do, or where would you like to go? Since it appears I've been placed to supervise you."

"Let's go to Club Rouge. I'll tell you which way to go." Tails said with a smile.

"Sure. Any reason in particular?" Blaze asked.

"I think Rouge needs to know how I am doing."

"Okay, sure." Blaze said. And off the two went to Club Rouge.

Shadow walked calmly out of the town toward the beach. He noticed a certain blue hedgehog sat in the sands near the water and decided to go over.  
"You never cease to surprise me blue hedgehog." Shadow said.  
"I haven't heard you say that since the Ark saga." Sonic replied.  
"I don't remember ever seeing you sit so casually next to water before, considering you're little fear of it."

"And I haven't seen you care about someone since that incident with Omega." said Sonic. "Now we can both rant about how each of us seem out of character, or we can think of a plan."

"Such as?" Shadow questioned, taking a seat next to Sonic.

"You said it yourself; we need to keep tabs on Tails in case Eggman goes after her."

"I'm only doing what you seem incapable of doing. But I'll let you off easy, since I know finding out your bro is a sis and what the girls said is probably taking effect on you." Shadow replied.

"That's a lot to absorb finding out that Tails is a girl. But I'm more concerned about what is really going on with things."

"Yeah, Eggman must have done what he did with some incentive. He's not the type of person to do such actions just to beat his meat." Shadow agreed.

"And knowing that Tails was raped by a machine doesn't make my nerves any calmer."

"Mmhmm. I don't know what's going on either. But I'll keep an eye on Tails when you're incapable of doing so, so take your time trying to get through this. But get over it quick, I don't want to have to play babysitter forever." Shadow said.

"Think of Tails like she were Maria reincarnated." Sonic stood up to face Shadow. "Tails will need all of our help now, especially since we have no clue on what's going on."

Shadow also stood. "I understand how Tails needs us right now. But don't bring Maria into this." He warned Sonic. "No one can ever replace Maria."

"Tch, 'No one can ever replace Maria.' And you want me to get over it." Sonic just shrugged. "Look, arguing doesn't help us, so let's go look for leads. I'll go start by visiting Tails at the hospital and you try to find Amy and figure out what really went on with Tails. And in the process, fill everyone in on a plan.

"We'll meet up at Rouge's Club and explain the situation then when we have a better insight on what exactly is going on."

"By everyone, I assume you mean those who know the truth." Shadow said.

"Yeah, just the usual group with the intention to stomp a mudhole in Eggman for wronging Tails." and off Sonic ran.

"Hm, well, that's fine by me Sonic." Shadow said to himself. He lifted his chaos emerald to warp, until he saw it was glowing. "Hm...There must be another chaos emerald nearby. Whilst I am here, I might as well pick it up." And with that, Shadow wondered off on an emerald hunt.

Meanwhile, back at Club Rouge. Blaze and Tails were escorted to Rouges private room where she manages the business. Rouge however had a few noisy punters she needed to give a good kick in the ass. The girls however made themselves comfortable until Rouge came back in.  
"Busy day, huh, Rouge?" Tails questioned.

"Tell me about it." Rouge answered. "With what happened with you and running my club, I've dealt with a lot mentally."

"At least Tikal doesn't want you to model in her lingerie like she wants me to do." said Blaze.

Now Rouge was interested. "That's a shame, why wouldn't she want to use my perfect figure?" She pouted.  
"Perhaps she worries the size of your bust will break it." Tails said.  
"At least I have a bust, missy." Then Rouge covered her mouth, thinking she'd spilt the beans to Blaze. "I didn't just..."  
"Don't worry; she was informed earlier with Cream, Marine and Vanilla, two of which are not so happy with me about." Tails sighed.

"Come on, it can't be that bad." said Rouge.  
"I fainted from finding out." said an embarrassed Blaze. "Not one of my best moments either, and when I can around, Cream and Vanilla were gone and Tails had Marine go after them."

"Haven't seen any of them since." Tails finished.

"Well, what did Marine say about you being a girl?"

"That she had a new found respect for me or something." Tails replied.

"Well, give Marine time to coax Cream and Vanilla into accepting your feminine life. I'm sure they just really need to clear things up.

"It'll all turn out, just wait and see."

"Well, it might sound harsh. But Cream and Vanilla aren't my main concern at the moment." Tails admitted.

"Getting some back pay on Eggman is more important to me as well."

"That wasn't what I meant, but I can go with that." Tails said.

"Then what do you mean?" asked Blaze.  
"Yeah. Is there something else we should know about you?" added Rouge.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to come to terms with it myself before I tell anyone else..." Tails replied.

Blaze was confused. "Well, I guess you just have to build up your strength from everything." said Rouge. "No worries, you can always relax at my club."

"Thanks." Tails said.

"Anytime, foxy."

It was at this time Tails was going back into her harsh realisation of what was truly happening to her, but she fought back her own tears as best she could.

Rouge had to go back to check on her punters, during her check over, she found Amy, who'd come in.

"Hey, Rouge, how are you?" Amy asked.

"Other than tired, dealing with knuckleheads." Rouge answered. "How are you holding up from your rough night?"

"I'm still being haunted..." Amy honestly replied.

"Same here, and so is Tails."

"Every time I close my eyes all I see is Tails and that..." Amy then stopped, not wanting to let out what happened to the whole club.

"Grab your hammer and help me check on things."

"You want me to take care of punters?" Amy asked.

"Fine, don't help. Of all the times Knuckles isn't around..."

Amy took up her hammer and got onto the bar and looked at the rowdy punters. "Okay, all of you shut the hell up, or I'll shut you up! Got it?!" Amy threatened the whole place.  
"What're you gonna do about it girly? You're smaller than everyone in the whole bar." A punter responded.  
"Nice panties, do they come in red too?!" Another commented. It was at this point the both of them felt pains they never thought imaginable. However, this didn't stop others from being rowdy, in fact, it started a small bar fight.  
"Chaos...Control!" With a flashing light, many of the bar fighting punters were punted and Shadow stood in the middle of the lot.  
"Now does anyone else want to fight in this bar?" He asked with a harsh tone. The punters here were regulars and knew not to mess with Shadow, so they hushed up, those who were conscious that is.

"Sorry Rouge. I didn't mean to start a bar fight." Amy said as she rubbed her bruising cheek.

"Um... yeah...." said Rouge.  
Blaze walks out to see the collateral damage. "Well, I missed out, but at least things are all right." she said, then Tails wheeled into sight.

"Oh, Tails. You're here too." Amy said, somewhat surprised. "I thought you were at the hospital still, why are you here?"  
"I got released." Tails replied. "What happened in here, we came because we heard a commotion."

"The usual rowdy behaviour that comes standard with clubs." Rouge answered.

"I see." Tails said. "Well, anyway, I think I should go home now. I need to make sure my place is still okay."

"Are you sure it's wise for that? I mean Eggman sort of caught you there..." Blaze noted.  
"If that's the case, you can stay over at my place. No one would dare try to come for me there." offered Rouge.

"If Eggman truly is after me, there's no place he won't strike." Tails commented.

"Somehow, I feel like that's my line." and everyone turned to see Sonic and Knuckles. "By the way, why wasn't I invited to the 'ass-kicker' party?"

"Guess for once you were just too slow, blue hedgehog." Shadow shrugged.

"Too slow and didn't know are two different things." Sonic explained.  
"Okay people, it's closing time." said Rouge. "You don't have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here."  
"You heard her." said Blaze. "And trust me, you don't wanna get on my bad side." and Blaze's hands turned into flames once again.

The action scared everyone out of the club. "Man, when did she learn how to do that?" asked Knuckles.  
"It's been too long since the EX Grand Prix." said Sonic.  
"Pyrokinesis is a gift and a curse sometimes." explained Blaze.  
"Hoo wee, looks like you could use a fixer upper. I guess it's a good thing we came along." and everyone turns to see Marine, Cream and Vanilla.

"Hurray, now everyone is here." Tails uttered sarcastically.

Well, I better get started with this stuff." said Rouge.  
"I might as well help you out." said Knuckles.  
"Grab a chair and tables people, this'll be a while." said Sonic.

Everyone had finished cleaning up the bar with Rouge and even Tikal had shown up and helped out. Afterwards, everyone had relocated into the private bar in the back and taken a seat.  
"Since we're all here, everyone's heard of the incident with Dr Egghead, I'm sure." Sonic started. "We all need a serious talk."  
"About what?" Knuckles asked.  
"About..." Sonic then looked over to Tails. "About Tails." He said.

Tails then looked around the room. "At this point, the only ones who don't really know are Knuckles and Tikal." She said.

"Know what?" Tikal questioned.  
"Well, it's not really worth keeping a secret since everyone else knows. But in reality, I'm a girl and always have been." Tails told them. Of course the looks on their faces were to be expected.  
"Strewth Mate, did we all look like that when you told us?" Marine asked.  
"Yes Marine, yes you did." Tails answered.

"So, why does this come out now, of all times?" Tikal asked.  
"The other day, Eggman kidnapped Amy from the town and me from the beach after I foolishly fell for a ploy of his." Rouge explained, shame in her voice at her admittance to her folly. "When I came to, both myself and Amy were hanging from the roof wearing...nothing but a strip of plastic across our breasts..." Amy looked away from the crew almost in shame.  
"What the hell? Since when did old Eggy become a perve!" Knuckles roared.  
"I'm sure he wanted all you girls, as his next target was Cream. However, I got in the way and protected her, getting captured myself." Tails continued the tale. "He knocked me unconscious and took me to his lab too when Cream escaped."  
"Cream found me and Shadow preparing for another race and told us what had happened, so we ran as fast as we could in the direction she saw Eggman fly off to. Good thing Cream was observant, but we still had a bit of trouble finding the place." Sonic said.

When me and Rouge came to in the lab with only the strips on. Eggy told us about his new project, dubbed Chimera. We still to this point have no idea what it is." Amy explained. "However, the process of Chimera isn't something I want to explain." Amy said sadly. Tails curled up in her wheelchair.

"I'll say this much. There was some form of machine tentacle thing and it......" Rouge halted, also feeling sickened at the mere memory.  
"It ripped inside of me and raped me." Tails finished for her, before burying her face in her legs and hugging them. Sonic patted her on the back. The silence around the room and on two rabbits in particular was unbearable.

"Crikey, so that's why you weren't so keen on me exposing you at the hospital." said Marine, who still felt bad after what she had done. "You probably don't wanna forgive me in the back of your mind."

"I forgive you, I don't hold grudges." Tails replied, her voice slightly muffled but understandable.  
"Tails...I'm so sorry I ran out of the room like I did, I shouldn't have been concerning about my own feelings when I should have realised what was happening to you." Cream apologised as she cried a little. Tails uncurled herself and sat properly.  
"Don't worry, you didn't know, so it's okay." Tails said to reassure her.  
"So, this was all just something for Eggman's sick perverted entertainment?" Blaze questioned angrily.  
"No...he actually pumped me with....some kind of purple gunk..." Tails admitted, "at this time, I was too weak to keep conscious, so the rest of the story is everyone else's. I don't know any more than this."

"Before all this happened, Eggman said something about 'what you'll become' to me before Tails showed up and while Rouge was still out." Amy added. "However, he didn't say. Then I found out that there was a captured prisoner... which ended up being Tails."

"This is all so much...too much to comprehend. I mean...what in the world..." Vanilla couldn't believe what she was hearing. Then again, not many others who didn't know could either.

"Raped by a machine... you must feel like you were maimed inside." said Tikal.

"Hence the wheelchair. My hips are like sitting on giant needles right now. The slightest real pressure in my legs hurts really badly." Tails replied. "And it was confirmed there are scratches and cuts all on my insides so...in a sense, yes I was maimed inside."

"Being scratched inside... that must feel worse than a vaginal scraping." said Vanilla.  
"Or pulling out that Crossbow." said Tikal.  
"What's a crossbow?" asked Marine.  
"It's a type of female contraceptive... like the 'shield'. But you put it inside and it opens up like a bow, then scrapes out seeds from your inner lining and-"  
"TMI... damn." Rouge cut off. "Let's try not to make things sound too painful for Tails, she doesn't need that right now."

"You don't want to know the pain I felt...I don't want to even remember it." Tails said, her ears lowering in her sadness.

"Anyway, enough of this topic." Sonic said. "Since Tails was the...first and only victim, as me and Shadow arrived to save the other two...I only regret that for once I simply was just too slow to save Tails." Sonic said regretfully. "Well, it's clear Tails will no doubt be targeted by Eggman, who'll probably want to finish his sick little project, so Tails will need 24/7 watch. I was hoping everyone could help with this." Sonic looked around, expectantly.

"I feel like such a weakling and a burden right now..." Tails sighed.

"I'm in." Blaze answered.

After a unanimous agreement that everyone would help. It was gradually decided that Tails would get a time plan on who will look after her at which given time.  
"She's welcome to come and stay with Cream and I at our place." Vanilla said.  
"You're not going to try and get them to get it on are you?" Amy narrowed her eyes.  
"What are you insinuating?" Vanilla asked.

"Nothing, just a joke." Amy replied.  
"Anyway, I'm not sure Creams place is a safe place to be." Shadow said. "Could come to my place."  
"She's not living on the Ark, Shadow." Sonic narrowed his eyes.  
"Why not, it's safer than any place you can come up with." Shadow retorted.

"Shadow, You, Me and Knuckles will see if we can find Eggman's Base." Sonic said.  
"I'll take first duty." Blaze says.  
"Sure thing." Sonic replied.  
"Does that mean Tails is coming over to our place?" Cream asked Vanilla.  
"That depends on if Blaze and Marine will be staying with us as well." Vanilla replied.

"You know you people really shouldn't think of Tails as the last steak on the dinner table." said Tikal. "We are all concerned, but let's not treat her like meat."  
"I agree." said Marine. "And besides, we need to think of a way to keep Tails in a neutral safe haven."  
"Sounds good to me." said Rouge. "And by the way, I heard you were looking for lingerie models, Tikal."

"Yes I am..." Tikal answered. "I plan on launching my lingerie line and I need a few of the girls to flaunt off. Of course, I'll be modelling with you so no one feels alone. This way you don't have a reason to get out of it, Blaze."

"I thought I made it clear that I'm not interested." said Blaze.

"Lighten up, I know you have that sexy back."

"Can't you get anyone else to model for you? I'm really not comfortable with it." Blaze countered again. Knuckles then burst into laughing.  
"Why not have all the girls model for it. That way Blaze can't complain." He laughed.

"Cream and Marine are too young." Vanilla intervened.

"I'm not wearing it." Tails also stated.

"Well, I wasn't including you anyway, Tails." Knuckles stated.  
"When you said 'all girls', that by rights includes me, thank you very much." Tails countered.

"And I'm down for a little modelling.... er, just to help out." added Marine.  
"You are too young." said Vanilla.  
"You aren't my mum...."  
"Stop it, just count me out." said Blaze.  
"No way, you have to do it in my place." said Marine.  
"Forget it. Now, let's focus on what we have planned."

"Let's talk more on this neutral place." Sonic said. "Where?"

"I dunno, Station Square is new to me." said Marine. "Uncharted waters as it were...."

"I'll just stay with Cream and Vanilla for now." Tails said. "Like it was said, if Blaze and Marine are still there, Blaze is capable enough to take care of me."

"I still thi-..." Sonic was cut off.  
"That and the fact I'd feel weird hanging with you boys for a little bit." Tails added.  
"Why?" Sonic questioned.  
"No offence, but I've just become a girl to you, so that might complicate things for a bit. Sorry, but...I'd like to stay with girls for now."

_Truth of the matter is...If it came to a point where I can't stop myself from telling them about this baby...I don't know how the guys would respond to it and at least I'd be able to talk to Vanilla about it...I hope._ Tails thought.

"I better start with guard patrol." said Blaze.

But what Blaze didn't catch was that Marine decided to pull a prank on the cat in removing her overcoat... the end result was Blaze's chest being exposed to everyone. Everyone was in awe. "Um... oops?" said Marine.  
Amy, Tikal and Rouge looked amongst themselves and started cheering. "Itty bitty titties!" they shouted.  
"Wow, she really isn't all that racked, huh?" asked Vanilla.  
"Nope," said Rouge as she pulled out a boombox, "but this calls for 'the moment'."

Blaze squealed and covered herself up. "Knock that off!" She roared, then glared at Marine. "You're so dead, brat!" She roared at her.

"I didn't know you were topless under that." said Marine, and then the music started playing.

As the music played, Cream, Amy, Rouge, Vanilla and Tikal began to move to it. "What song is this one?" asked Marine.  
"The woman's song of Shame called Bust." Tails answered. "I am so glad it's not me."  
"I haven't heard this song in a while." said Knuckles.  
and with that, Tikal, Amy and Vanilla started singing....

I must... I must...  
I must increase my bust!  
I must... I must...  
I must increase my bust!  
I must... I must...  
I must increase my bust!

Rouge plugged in a mic and went solo.

I have to admit, I am upset with tits  
and I've been this way since I was a kid....


	4. Chapter 4

Tails was in a large metallic bed, tied down by mechanical arms. Her limbs were held down tightly and she struggled to break free. _What the hell, where am I? Why am I here? How did I get here?! _She thought in panic. It was at this point a shadow fell on her and she looked in the direction of the figure. Dr Eggman stood, but what was disturbing to her was he was completely naked. _Okay, NOT something I needed to see._ Tails thought to herself.  
"What the hell are you up to now, Eggman?!" She yelled at him.  
"Having planted my experimental egg within you Tails, It's time to fertilise!" Dr Eggman laughed. Tails eyes widened in fear as he began to mount her on the metal bed. Then he forced his way inside of her.

"AAAAHHH!!" Tails screamed as she shot out of bed, panting hard. _My god, that was the worst nightmare I've had in ages. _She thought as she tried to regain her breath. Her eyes watered as she tried to forget the detailed description of her dream.

Two raps were heard from Tails' bedroom door. "Hey, are you okay in there?" asked Cream.

It was a while before Tails had regained enough a breath to reply.  
"Yeah...I just had a bad dream; I don't want to sleep anymore..." She told Cream.

"Need some company?"

"Might be good."

"Um... you might wanna get the door..."

"Oops...sorry..." Tails said as she stood up, wiped her face and walked to the door, opening it for Cream.

Cream walks inside of Tails' room. "You really have been through a lot."

"Kinda wish I didn't." Tails replied. "Every time I sleep the dreams just get worse..." She walked over and took a seat on the bed again, burying her face in her hands for a short time before falling back on it arms spread and sighing. "Well...better me than you." She said.

"And what would you do to help if it actually was me?"

"I don't know. I don't even know what to do with myself at the moment..." Tails replied with a sigh.

"The first thing you need to do is find a way to strengthen yourself. Unless you find a way to get your physical strength up, the mental strengthening won't do you so well."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"We should occupy your time with other things."

"What do you have in mind?" Tails asked as she sat up.

"Not sure. Perhaps a puzzle or TV?"

"I've been here nearly two weeks, but we've not really hung out at all..." Tails said. "I can understand that you might be avoiding me. I wonder though, I've never been shopping as a girl."

"We can go shopping tomorrow if you want. I mean, it is still the middle of the night."

"Of course." Tails said. "What puzzles do you have then?"

"Well, let's go take a look." Cream takes Tails by the hand and the two head into the living room.

_At least Cream is finally talking to me properly now...I hope it lasts... _Tails thought.

Once in the living room, Cream opened a cupboard and searched around for the puzzles.

"I would have opted for the Television, but the only things shown at this time are dirty pornos and Tikal's talk show."

"Tikal's talk show?"

"You don't know it?" Tails asked.

"I don't stay up at night."

"Well, she gets a decent air time on Saturdays."

"And what does she talk about?"

"She council's people, you know, like Jeremy Springer."

"Oh wow, he's worse than that one lady on the Spanish channel, she actually lets them fight."

"Well, Knuckles loves the show." Tails says.

"Tikal's or Jeremy Springer?"

"Tikal's, he's security on it."

"Security on Tikal's show and side jobs being Rouge's bouncer. I guess you can't have you know what do everything."

"You know what?" Questioned Tails.

"Yeah... 'You know what'." Cream answers with a sigh. "Water can only do so much..."

Tails tilts her head. "You've lost me, Cream."

"Anyway, we have one of the planet, one of a car, one of the.... World's Largest Toilet? What the hell... and lemme check the Puzz 3D."

"Toilet..." Tails uttered. "Excuse me a moment..." And off Tails went to locate the bathroom.

As Tails walked to the bathroom, it wasn't long before she was running to it. She opened the door and slammed it shut behind her before dropping to the toilet seat to bring up last night's supper.

It was a good 5 minutes that Tails remained within the confides of the bathroom, not knowing whether or not to leave just yet.  
"This has to stop..." She uttered, sitting back against the wall.

"Hey Tails, do you still want to do puzzles?!" Cream yelled from the living room.

"I'll be there in a bit Cream." Tails called back. "I just need to stop feeling like my insides want to escape..." She said to herself, so Cream could not hear her from the other room.

"Okay."

Another 10 minutes passed before Tails felt safe to leave the bathroom, having freshened herself up. She walked back into the living room.

"So, did you decide on a puzzle yet, or should I talk about the puzz 3D ones?" asked Cream

"Um..." Tails thought for a moment. _I didn't think of what puzzle, whilst spilling my guts...bleh. _"Tell me about the 3D ones."

"Well, there's one of the planet, one of Big Ben, one of a dragon, the Great Wall of China, Omochao... where are the other ones..."

"Could do the Omochao one." Tails said.

"Omochao it is." and Cream begins to put away all of the other puzzles.

The girls relocated to the table to do the puzzle.

After the puzzle was out of the box, the two began work on constructing it. "So, any plans for where we're gonna go tomorrow?" Tails asked.

"Well, I can finally go girl shopping with you if you want." Cream suggests.

"It's a bit new to me, since I've never done it." Tails honestly replied. "I mean don't get me wrong, at times I get myself a few comfortable panties...which I got looks for. I generally said I was getting them for you by request of Vanilla..."

Cream looked away, slightly blushing. "Well, you do have good taste."

"You know what panties I wear?" Tails questioned. "I guess you would, I get them from the same place yours come from after all."

"Um....."

"Oops, I guess I'm making you uncomfortable. I'll stop talking about it."

"N-no, that's not it... I guess I'm not used to talking about comparing panties with you."

"Admit it. You're just not used to the fact I **can** compare panties with you, and not sound perverted." Tails pointed out.

"No, it's just you always talk about machinery and particle accelerators. Comparing panties with you is a bit of a change."

"I kinda don't want to think about machinery at the moment..." Tails said sadly, lowering her ears. "The idea of machines at the moment makes me sick."

"Wow, thanks for making me feel bad about the tool set." and Cream began to sulk.

"No no...That's not what I meant, Cream." Tails said, trying to turn the whole thing around.

"I really thought you'd like those tools, they were real chrome... chrome."

"I loved the tools, Cream. I still do. But..." Tails then just stopped and sighed. "Imagine what it's like to set your whole life, your heart on one thing. It becomes your favourite pass time. Only to one day be raped by it..." Tails then began to cry. "I can't help how I feel at the moment..."

"Me neither, but at least I'm trying to help. It's not like I can sleep it all away."

Tails wiped her face. "Do you really blame me because of the way I'm feeling at the moment?"

"No, I blame myself.... Everything that happened to you should've happened to me. But it didn't, and now you have to suffer for it." and Cream ran from the table towards her room. "I'm sorry that this is all my fault." And her cries could be heard from down the hall.

Tails just collapsed her head to the table and she herself cried there.

After a good 7 minutes, Tails had stopped crying, but was still face in arms on the table. A hand touched her on the shoulder, startling her a little, only to find it was Vanilla.  
"Oh...Vanilla, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Tails asked before wiping her face.  
"Well, the crying of both you and Cream did, yes. But it doesn't matter. I've already spoken to Cream." Vanilla said, taking the seat.  
"I really upset her this time...I sounded so ungrateful..."

"A part of me is to blame for that."

"Why's that?" Tails asked.

"Here's the deal. As you probably were aware of, I've been trying to get you and Cream courted... Then you told us, and Marine so lewdly showed us that you were a girl, that was a lot of shattered glass on our end.

"Trust me; it was very hard to get over the fact that you were female. Marine had to counsel me for the entire day. I was mad at myself. Now things are really hitting the fan and reality makes people face itself... whether we want to or not."

"Reality hits the fan...you can say that again..." Tails sighed. "No matter what I do to try and forget, it's not going to just go away..." Tails then put her hands back in her palms and cried softly.

"I can honestly tell you that my feelings toward you, though somewhat different now, still remain unchanged. And I'm sure Cream's remain the same as well. Transition time isn't pretty... but you know about that more than any of us in and on the house, don't you?"

"Transition time?"

"Yes, transition time."

"That is..?"

"Transition time is the point in life when a person changes his or herself depending on their current situation. You are currently going through this more than all of us."

"More than you know..." Tails uttered.

"You know what; I felt like you are once before back in the day..."

"Oh?" Tails questioned.

"I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the day I buried Cream's father."

"..." Tails didn't say anything.

"Anyway, that was a day I will never forget. I was in so much stress putting him into the ground and moving on was hard. Being a widow isn't any fun and my transition was a very difficult process."

"I see...I'm sorry...My issues seem kind of minor to that..." Tails said. "But...Vanilla....C-can I trust you with something?"

"Funny you should say, because I think your situation is just as difficult as mine was." and Vanilla pats Tails' back. "Do you want to know why?"

"Why?" Tails asked.

"Because I soon found out later that day, I was pregnant with Cream." Vanilla stood up. "I will let you break whatever news of yourself in time, I trust your decisions."

"I...can't keep it to myself anymore..." Tails said. "But, I want your honest word you won't tell anyone else either."

"Tails... I already know. No one gets sick after my signature meal unless they're dying or pregnant."

"O...oh...." Tails lowered her ears. "So how long have you known?"

"Mothers know these things... that and your midnight sickness is the third time I've heard you."

"I don't know what to do..." Tails said sadly

"Do what you feel is right, I won't judge your choices."

"Well...I've considered abortion a few times. But I just keep remembering it's not the child's fault, nor did it ask to be created..." Tails said. "What would you do?"

"I would go either way. Just keep in mind that you have to birth your child and not the other way around." Vanilla reassured Tails. "Needle insides or not."

"It's just...eventually I'd have to tell everyone and I don't know what they will say." Tails said. "Also...somehow I think an abortion wouldn't work."

"If that's how you feel, then have your baby. It worked for me and you see how Cream turned out."

"Yeah, I know..." Tails said. "Eggman's not someone who makes mistakes, underestimated judgements, but not mistakes. There's no way that he'd have missed the option of abortion if this is truly what he had in mind for me. If it were just so easy to abort, then his entire plan would be flawed."

"If you want, I can give you nursing pointers."

"I'm going to need all the help I can get, if I truly am forced into motherhood..."

"Well, let me know and I'll help you however I can."

"How do you deal with morning...well...screw morning...Pregnancy Sickness?"

"You don't. That you have to take as it comes, but it doesn't last for long. Just the first couple of weeks. And judging by the looks of things, you are only a couple of weeks."

"Near 2 since I was told." Tails confirmed.

"It should end by the middle of the third week."

"I guess I have to suffer a little longer." Tails sighed. "How is Cream? She was really crying earlier, but I was too weak to go after her. She thinks all of this is her fault."

"I will talk to her, but this will take some time."

"I know..." Tails said. "I just hope it doesn't take too much time."

"She won't hate you forever. Not like she hates you now, but like I said... transition time."

"I know..." Tails replied. "I'd attempt going back to sleep...but not if I'm going to have another nightmare..."

"Well, you have a puzzle here, so let's work on that."

"You're not going back to bed?"

"Not yet, I have to check on Blaze."

"I'm right here." said Blaze coming around the corner.

Vanilla saw Blaze, then stretched. "Well, I guess that's two less people for you. I'll go see what my daughter is up to." said Vanilla. "Enjoy your night, girls."

"You too, Vanilla." Tails said. "So, how long have you been there?"  
"Only just arrived actually."  
"How much did you hear?"  
"Just about a puzzle and Vanilla mentioning about checking on me."  
"Oh."

Meanwhile, Cream was sat in her room in the dark, she'd left the door open, but the only light in the room was the full moon, which she was watching.

"Cream, are you still upset?" Vanilla asked, peeking inside of the room.

"It's my fault this happened to Tails...It was supposed to be me." Cream replied, lowing her head.

Vanilla walked inside of the room and went to comfort her daughter. "Cream, you can do one of two things: Be mad at yourself for something you couldn't control; or be mad at not being able to forgive yourself. Either way, it won't make things easier for the both of you."

"But I..." Cream sniffled. "I want to help and I don't know how to. And I hurt Tails because I got mad because I felt like she didn't like the tools I got for her."

"Tails is going through a very rough time right now... something that no one her age should ever have to go through. I mean, rape is a serious experience that no one wants to have to attempt to forget."

"If it were me, Tails wouldn't have to suffer it at all..." Cream said.

"Are you sure about that?"

"I dunno, kinda..."

"Let's say that you were going through what Tails has to currently endure. Tails would probably feel so hurt about it just as you are."

"But...." Cream said. "Well...I guess so..."

"See, everything probably would be worse. Did you even take into consideration how I would've felt if it were you?"

"No...I guess not."

"Cream, you have to understand that what happened to Tails doesn't just concern you and her. It affects all of us. Here we all are thinking that Tails is a guy, even Sonic, who knew Tails longer than anyone, only to find out Tails is a girl in one instant."

"Yeah, that was a real shocker...and here I was so forward too..."

"Tails will need a lot of love now more than ever. And since we are the ones who care about Tails, it is our job to see that she's loved."

Cream looked up at the moon. "Yeah. You're right." she said. "I should go and say sorry for how I acted just now."

"You do that, I'm going to bed." and Vanilla left Cream to her own.

Cream waited a little bit and looked at the moon again. _I've been selfish about all this. I've been concerning about how I feel and ignoring what Tails is going through...I have a lot of making up to do..._ She thought.

Cream stood and walked out of her room, in time to see her mother close her own room to go to bed. Cream then walked into the living room. "Tails?" She called as she walked around, but she hushed as Blaze walked passed with Tails in her arms. Tails had fallen asleep it appeared. Cream frowned a little but shook her head slightly. _No, I'm sure she's really tired...I'll just put the puzzle away for now. _But then Cream saw the puzzle. _She completed it? But...that was so quick..._

Cream shrugged and decided to leave the puzzle where it was. Blaze returned from Tails room.  
"How are you Blaze?"  
"I'm fine, but you should head back to bed too." Blaze told the young doe.  
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Cream replied. "Well, good night Blaze." And Cream retired to her room.

Vanilla woke and yawned slightly. She rubbed her eyes a little before she rolled out of bed and gradually got changed, did her typical morning things and left her room, only to be welcomed by a sweet scent of cooking. _Cream must be up already._ She thought. She then headed into the living room to find Blaze had dozed off in the window and Marine was sleeping on her head, having fallen off the couch the same night, but not woken. She headed into the kitchen and to a nice surprise, it was Tails cooking up breakfast and not Cream.  
"Oh, Good morning Tails." Vanilla said.

"Good morning, Vanilla." Tails greeted.

"Smells sweet, what are you cooking?" Vanilla asked, walking over.

"Just something out of the blue involving fruit. Is there anymore orange juice?"

"Sounds interesting, let me have a look." Vanilla said, before she went into the cupboards. "Hmm...Ah, here we are. It's not much though." Vanilla said, as she passed Tails a bottle of OJ which had about a glass and a half left.

"Ah, thanks a lot." and Tails pours the orange juice into the cooking breakfast.

"Do you need me for anything?" Vanilla asked.////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Well, it's your house..."

"My house or not, you got to the kitchen first." Vanilla smiled. "I wouldn't want to impose. I'll be cleaning the living room if you need anything...once I've lifted Marine back into a position which won't cramp her for the rest of the day...if I'm not too late that is." And Vanilla left the kitchen and carefully lifted Marine onto the sofa again, surprisingly, Marine didn't seem to even notice. Vanilla walked over to Blaze and shook her slightly. Blaze woke up slowly and looked in Vanilla's direction. "Would you like a proper sleep, you've been on guard duty with 2 hours a night sleep." She said.

"No, I must stay on guard..." Blaze said as she stood to retake her post.  
"Blaze...That doctor hasn't shown up in the time you've all been here, a little rest won't hurt." Vanilla told her.  
"I guess a speed nap is in order. You're right, if I keep this up, I'll be too tired to even fight." Blaze agreed before yawning.  
"Go ahead and sleep in my bed for a bit." Vanilla offered.  
"Okay, thank you, Ms Vanilla." And Blaze strolled off to find the room, passing Cream who'd just gotten up and changed, who headed straight into the kitchen.

"What smells sweet?" asked Cream.

"Thought I'd try making something using fruit." Tails replied. "Did you sleep well?"

"I've had better, but I'll make it."

"Well, at least I didn't dream when I fell back to sleep." Tails replied. "I'm sorry...I upset you last night." She apologised.

"I guess all of us got upset last night. I was hoping not to upset you anymore."

"You can start by changing the topic, no one is going to feel better when talking about who upset who." Vanilla said, as she came in and lifted Tails hand holding the pan. "If you don't keep the fruit moving, it'll lose its flavour." She said.

"I still have more stirring to do." said Tails..

"Go ahead." Vanilla said, letting Tails go. "Cream, why not set the table?" Vanilla suggested.  
"Okay." And off Cream went. Vanilla watched her daughter go, then lowered her lips to Tails ears and said quietly.  
"I'll let you tell everyone in your own time, but if you need to talk about anything, you know where I am, okay?" She told Tails.

"Sure, thanks a lot."

Cream came back. "Would we need forks or spoons?" She asked.

"Spoons." Tails answered. "And bowls too. I mean, you can use a plate for this, but bowls would be the better choice."

"Okay." Cream said, before leaving again.

After 15 more minutes, Tails was serving up, but Marine and Blaze were still absent.

"I guess Marine and Blaze are heavy sleepers." said Tails. "Well, I can understand Blaze, but Marine... that girl sleeps like a rock."

"Shark on my toshie!" Marine yelled from the couch, before falling onto the floor...and remained asleep.

"Well, I guess we better eat." said Vanilla.  
"Yeah, have your eat." said Tails. "I'll go freshen up in the bathroom."

"Of course." Vanilla said, as Tails left for the bathroom.  
"Tails sure does use the bathroom a lot these days..." Cream commented.

"Remember that her insides were torn, Cream... it probably affected her Bladder." said Vanilla.

"Oh yeah...I forgot..."

"Remember Cream, not every girl who's insides went through hell will have a 'leak' like normal." said Vanilla.

"I guess not." Cream said, looking in the direction of the hall leading to the bathroom. "I hope Tails is okay."

"She'll be fine, let's just eat our breakfast."

"Okay." And so Cream and Vanilla continued breakfast without Tails.

Tails finally returned to join Cream and Vanilla for breakfast. "So, what do you think?" she asked.

"It's tasty." Cream said.  
"Yes, it's quite pleasant." Vanilla replied. "Everything okay on your end?"

"Yeah, I have a racehorse complex at the moment." Tails answered.

"Well, you should eat; get your strength up for the day." Vanilla advised.  
"Yeah, since we're going shopping today." Cream agreed.

"We were talking about shopping last night." said Tails. "I can probably find something nice for Amy."

"You should get some things for yourself too, Tails." Vanilla said.  
"Hey Tails?" Cream questioned, waiting for a reply before asking her question.

"Um... yes?" Tails asked.

"What's a racehorse complex?"

"You know the expression, 'Piss like a racehorse' Cream?"

"Oh, now I see." Cream said. "Okay."  
"Can we stop talking about piss now?" Vanilla asked.

"Um, sorry about that." said Tails.

Marine appeared at the table, but looked zombiefied.  
"Fooood..." She dragged.

And Marine takes a seat and, after having food served to her, begins scoffing it down quickly. Three raps were heard at the front door.

_Wow, that was quick... I may eat like that one day._ Thought Tails.

Vanilla got up and headed to the door as Marine finished her food, pushed the bowl aside and sat back.  
"That hit the spot. Who cooked?" She questioned.  
"I did." Tails replied.

Vanilla walked back in the room, followed by Amy.  
"Amy's come to visit." She said.

"Hi girls, what's up?" Amy asked as she walked over to sit. "Isn't Blaze on duty?"  
"Hey, even a cat has to sleep at night." Tails replied. "She's been on the tightest sleep schedule since we got here, she deserves a sleep."  
"Sheesh, didn't mean to cause offence."  
"None taken, sorry it appeared that way."  
"So, what are your plans then?"

"A little shopping." Tails replied.  
"Girly shopping." Cream added. Amy brightened up a bit.  
"I see, well I could show you the best places to go just for that." She said.  
"I bet you could." Tails replied.  
"Hey Cream, maybe we could..." Amy leaned over to Cream and finished the rest of her sentence in her ear quietly.  
"Ooh, that sounds like a great idea." Cream replied joyfully.  
"What's a great idea?"  
"Oh, you'll find out." Amy smiled slyly.  
"Ya don't mind if I sit this one out, do ya?" Marine asked. "I gotta work on ma next ship."  
"You mean think of a ridiculous amount of requests to plant on me." Tails replied.

"You're going shopping with them, Marine." said Vanilla. "You young girls have to show Tails the feminine life."

"But..but, but, but..." Marine stuttered. "Oh alright, guess ya'd need me there, can't have a bonzor good time without yer captain around, eh Tails?"

"Try not to be too hyper." Tails answered. "Besides, you need to know a few local areas anyway.

"Well, I just hope this shopping doesn't go so bad."

After finishing up their food, the girls went off to get ready for their shopping, though this was an excuse to wait for Blaze to rest up a little.

Cream and Amy were in Cream's room, as Tails was in her own.  
"So Cream. How are you taking all this?" Amy asked.

"Slow." Cream answered. "I'm trying hard to help, but things aren't doing well."

"Still not used to Tails being...you know...a girl?"

"It's.... challenging to say the least."

"And what about your feelings for Tails?"

"I... I don't really want to say. I mean, I had strong feelings for 'him' and now I have to remind myself that I have strong feelings for 'her' and..." Cream stopped herself. "It's complicated, very complicated."

"Well, I won't push the issue." Amy said. "Still, I should check up on Tails. I need to know she's still doing okay." And Amy stood up, gave Cream a quick pat on the shoulder and went to leave the room.

Amy left and walked down the hall to Tails room. As she tried to open it, she found it locked and knocked instead. Inside, Tails was having yet another breakdown, crying into her pillow, but it was severely muffled.

"Tails? Are you okay in there?" Amy questioned from outside.

"Ah, yeah. Just brushing my tails." Tails answered.

"Are you sure? You don't sound okay." Amy double-checked.

"I'm trying to sound confident, Amy. I was raped after all... Can I try to forget that for one whole day?!"

"Sorry, my bad..." Amy said, now feeling bad. "Um, I'll just go away now." And with that, she returned to Creams room.

As she entered Creams room, she noticed Blaze exit Vanilla's room, however didn't bother with current formalities and closed the door.

"Amy, what happened with you just now?" asked Cream.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"I heard yelling."

"That would be Tails biting my head off."

"Amy, please understand that Tails is going through a worse hell than you are. Put yourself in her shoes for a bit."

"I didn't mean it like that. I feel bad enough as it is, I don't blame her for chewing me out, but you asked and I answered." Amy said, taken aback.

"Welcome to my disagreement last night."

"Huh? What disagreement?"

"Long discussion."

"We got time to talk about it, if you want."

"No, let's just get ready to go shopping."

Amy then nodded and began to help out. Tails room door could be heard clicked, then pulled open. Seconds later she could be heard running down the hall, clearly in the direction of the bathroom.  
"That's the 4th time she's done that..." Cream sighed. "I hope she's okay."

"Wow, that's a major racehorse complex." said Vanilla with a smile.

"She's gone to pee again?" Cream questioned.

"Well, maybe the breakfast was too sweet for Tails." suggests Vanilla. "With all of that sweetness, I can't have candy all day. I better think about getting the 'racehorse' some saltlick."

"Well, anyway. Once she's done, we're ready to go." Amy said.

"Have fun." said Vanilla.

"We will." Cream replied happily as Vanilla left and headed to the bathroom. She tapped it 3 times.  
"Everything okay?" She asked.  
"I'll be fine." Tails replied from inside.

"I hope you don't have a urinary tract infection. Maybe you should call your doctor..." Vanilla suggests.

Tails then opened the door and looked up at Vanilla. "A what?"

"Urinary tract infection. One of the symptoms is frequent, uncontrollable urinating..."

"I wasn't peeing, but I'll still have it checked..." Tails said, closing the door behind her.

"Right."

After getting herself back together, Tails met up with the other girls and they left for the towns shopping centres.

The girls met up with Tikal and Rouge in different places in town, but eventually all the girls were in one big shopping group. They were walking down the towns to one of Amy's personal favourite shops, and were talking about general things.

"Well, I may have missed it last time, but that means I have making up to do." said Amy.  
"And I brought plenty of money this time around." said Rouge.  
"Sweet, this is a really big place." said Marine. "Look at all the stores in here."

"The majority from this angle look like underwear shops..." Tails commented.

"I could use some more lingerie." said Amy.

"How many pairs of underwear do you need?" Tails questioned.  
"I guess you're used to boxers, huh?" Cream commented.  
"Actually, you'd be surprised how comfortable a Bikini is when working on my usual things." Everyone looks at Tails oddly. "What?"  
"So, you've tried Bikini?"  
"Yes." Tails replied.  
"I figured you'd stick to boys underwear."  
"Not really, I tried a Tonga, but i think I had it confused. Not sure..."

"And that must be something from that lolicon book Sonic mentioned you had." said Rouge.

"I...do not...have lolicon books, damn it. It's a catalogue for PANTIES!" Tails yelled in frustration.

The girls looked at Tails. "Well, you do need better knickers, luv." said Marine.  
"And how do you know?" asked Rouge.  
"I caught a glimpse of her inventory." and Marine stuck out her tongue.

Tails face palmed.

"If she needs some new panties, why don't we model her for some?" Tikal suggested.  
"Wait, what?" Tails then began sweating a little. "You're not serious, are you?"  
"Damn straight."

"That's gonna be bonzor cool." said Marine.  
"Tails modelling in panties... at least Cream will see what you're made of in the feminine department." said Rouge. "She may even give you a playful slap on that twin tailed ass of yours."

This made Tails blush furiously. "No way, I'm not modelling for anything."

"I wanna see you in some new knickers myself... you'd look nice in them, luv." said Marine.

"That's just way too embarrassing." Tails said.  
"Why don't we both model?" Cream suggested.  
"If it makes you feel better, all of us will have tried at least 1 pair to show each." Tikal said. "Either way, no is not an answer we'll accept."

"I think I can get a good one in." said Rouge.  
"Hopefully I can find some in a synthetic mix." said Marine.

And so, the girls all dragged Tails to the nearest female panty shop and naturally, Tails got odd looks.

"Why is everyone looking at us like that?" Cream asked.

"Used to be a boy, remember?" Tails reminded her.

"Don't worry about Tails... this is only the outcome of a lost bet." said Amy.  
Everyone understood that and resumed normal shopping.  
"Nice save." Rouge whispered to Amy.  
"Works every time."

"What just happened?" Tails asked.

"Not sure." Marine answered.  
"Wanna out the closet to everyone?" Rouge whispered to Tails.

"Huh?" Tails questioned rouge.

"Let everyone know you're a girl then..."

"I'd rather not just shout it out to everyone..." Tails replied.  
"Then don't." Tikal said walking over. "Show them."  
"I'm not going to get into dirty positions to show my true gender."  
"I meant using...." And Tikal walked over to a certain thong and picked up showing the girls. "Something like this." She finished.

"I'm not wearing the-.." And before Tails could finish, Tikal, Rouge and Marine all pushed her to the changing booths and forced her inside. "I'm not wearing this." Tails said from inside the booth.  
"And why not?"  
"Because.....how do you put it on?" All the girls fall over. Cream then stood and walked inside the booth. "Hey! What are you..?" After what sounded like warfare, Cream poked her head out, after all the girls had recovered.  
"Um...I'm with Tails..." And they fell over again.


	5. Chapter 5

[WARNING: This Chapter contains Adult Themes. You were warned.]

Shadow headed for Tails workshop, he lifted one of his chaos emeralds, which was glowing brightly.  
"Hmmm, So, Tails has been keeping Chaos Emeralds." He said to himself. "I hope she doesn't mind if I borrow it for a while." He continued to walk to Tails workshop.

Upon arriving, he teleported inside and had a look around, finding no chaos emerald anywhere. "That's odd..." He uttered. He then checked behind the bookshelves, only to find a button. "Hmm..." Without hesitation, he pushes it, and a door opens. Shadow walks inside without hesitation.

Shadow arrives in a large underground facility. "How in the world did you build this one Tails..." Inside were all the main planes of Tails', including the Tornado 1, Tornado 2, Tornado X and the newest model which is yet to be named. There were many other machines in this place also, and a lot of computers. Shadow walked around to locate the Chaos emerald. After 5 minutes of walking, he found a generator and in it's small glass box held the Chaos Emerald. Shadow approached and reached to take it until.  
"Please do not remove that Chaos Emerald." Shadow leaped around and looked for whoever owned the voice.  
"Who's there?! Show yourself!" And with that, a camera of sorts shot a beam to the floor and it build up to a small twin tailed lavender coloured fox hologram. "What in the..."  
"My name is C4BX210. But my creator calls me Lavender." The hologram spoke. "I am the system AI for this entire laboratory, and the Chaos Emerald is my source of power. Remove it and I will shut down, along with the rest of this place."

"I see, so...Lavender, As much as I'd like to leave this here, I need to take it." Shadow said.  
"As much as you need it, I cannot simply allow you to take it." Lavender replied.  
"Well, how do we resolve this then?"  
"You'll have to speak with my creator. Only she can give you permission to remove my power source."

"So let's see what the problem is." said Cream.

Tikal entered the booth along with the other two girls and quickly resolved the problem, showing Tails just how to put on the lingerie. She poked her head out of the curtains.  
"Tails doesn't look half bad." She told them.

"Well, bring her out already." said Rouge.

"Don't you da-.." But before Tails could finish, Tikal stepped out and pulled her along for all to see. Tails had gone beet red in the face as it wasn't just the girls she was getting attention from.

Marine gave a smile. "Well, look at you in those knickers." she said. "You're so bonzor cute in them."  
"Well, I don't think pink is her colour." said Rouge. "Don't get me wrong, they fit her well, but she needs a different colour."

"How about Cyan?" Tikal asked.  
"Can I **pleeeaasee** take these off?" Tails pleaded. "Everyone's looking at me like I'm some kind of pervert."

"Take your lost bet like a man." said Rouge. "Hey, where is Marine."  
Suddenly, Marine came back. "Here we go, try on a few of these colours." she said. "I got purple, green, and sexy black." she stuck out her tongue.  
Rouge took out the black one and looked at the tag. "Tails, what is your waist size?"

"About 5." Tails replied.

Rouge shook her head. "Put those back, Marine. you got them too big." she said.  
"But I could've sworn she was around a 7." said Marine. "Well, put on the black one, it's a 6." and Marine hands the thong to Tails.

Tails sighs and walks back into the booth.  
"You know, you'd think she didn't like it here." Tikal giggled.

"Ten bucks says Cream has problems letting go of Tails' cheeks." Rouge whispers to Amy.

"You're on. Ten bucks says she can't even bring herself to slap Tails in any way **other** than a form of frustration." Amy replied. "On the backside, naturally."

"I wanna get in on that." said Marine. "Fifteen bucks says Tails will block Cream's incoming hands."

"100 bucks says one of you is at some point going to lose money." Tikal added her two cents.

"I don't have 100 bucks..." said Marine.

Tails came out in the new underwear, which did fit near perfectly. "What are you all whispering about?" She questioned. "More ways to torment me, I guess." She narrowed her eyes.

"See, I knew about your size." said Marine. "And the black makes you look like someone will take those off ya' with their teeth."  
"Since you wanna get that technical, let's get you out of the way." said Rouge.

"Teeth?" Tails sweat dropped slightly. "Somehow, I don't like where this is going..." Then Tikal pat Tails on the head.  
"There there. Marine's just getting a bit...too...feisty."

"Feisty is bad." said Cream.

"Um, excuse me ladies." Said a female staff member. "Some of the customers are complaining about you...fitting this boy with the lingerie."

"Are you going to kick us out?" Tails asked, sounding almost too happy about the idea.

"I didn't see any of you women complaining about the drag queens that came in here five minutes ago." said Rouge. "Yet you wanna whine about a guy who lost a bet?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I'm only responding to the complaints of our customers." The employee replied.

"Ooh, look at this pair of string panties... I'll win the drag lingerie contest for sure." says a nearby guy in a skirt.  
"Now, you might want to ask your other customers how they feel about him." said Rouge.

"That is gonna be a drag queen tragedy." said Marine.

The staff member then sighed. "I hate my job..." She uttered. "Excuse me." She bowed, then walked off, only to get bitched at by more customers about the males.

"Man, some guys really are disgusting." said Cream.  
"I wouldn't put on something like that... it's way too revealing." said Marine.

"Yeah, and thanks to this whole episode, everyone now thinks I'm like that..." Tails said.

"We had you in decent attire, not that kinky shit." said Rouge.

"Not the point." Tails replied. And Tikal walked over with a white Lingerie.  
"Tails, be a good little girl and put these on for us, okay?"  
"How about I try on the whole friggin' shop..."  
"I wouldn't complain too much Tails." Amy said to her. "After all, you still have another 19 shops to go through."

After Tails had tried on a few more panties, she was relieved that they were leaving the shop. Tikal took it upon herself to 'provide' Tails with some of the nicer panties. After they left, they wonder off to a chilli dog stand, Sonic was there pigging out, so the girls decided to join him for dinner.

"Well, we made a lot of progress today." said Cream. "Now mind you, it wasn't what we hoped for, but at least we made progress."

"Progress?" Tails questioned.

"Yes, we made a lot of progress. You'll understand in time."

"So, what have you been up to then?" Sonic questioned.  
"Embarrassing Tails, from what I saw. We thought we were helping." Tikal replied.  
"Hey, Sonic, How about after we're done shopping, me and you go on a date?" Amy asked Sonic seductively, rotating her index finger on a point of his arm.  
"No way." Sonic replied swiftly.  
"Why not?! You don't care about me at all, do you?"  
"It's not like that Amy, I just don't want to date. Anyway, I'm done. See ya." And Sonic boomed out of the room, leaving the girls in the aftermath of his sonic boom.  
"He's avoiding us..." Tails sighed.

_More like avoiding Amy._ thought Rouge.  
"Sonic looks like he has something up his bum." said Marine. "I never thought I'd see him run away from girls like that."

"Welcome to my world, Marine." Amy said to her.  
_He's definitely avoiding me..._ Tails thought. _I knew he'd never understand..._ Tails then buried her face in her hands on the table, Tikal pat her on the back.  
"There, there, sweetie. I'm sure he'll get used to this change in time." She said to her.

"So, where to next?" asked Rouge.

"How about that new dress shop that opened up over the road?" Amy suggested. "Me and Cream were going to have a look at what was in stock over there the other day, just before..." And then Amy hushed herself.

"So what type of Dress do you think Tails would look cute in?" asked Marine in an attempt to change the subject.

"Hm...Let's go and find out, shall we?" Tikal suggested. So with that, the girls finished their food. "Are you sure you're not hungry Tails?" Tikal asked.  
"I'm fine..."

The girls moved into the shop and were in awe at the many pretty dresses all around the shop. Even Tails was in awe and a certain echidna noticed this.  
"You like the look of these, huh, Tails?" She smiled.  
"I've been in here before and it's still as breathtaking." Tails replied.  
"You came in before?"  
"Yes."  
"Anything you liked?" Amy asked.  
"Perhaps."

"Tails actually likes dresses?!" Rouge cried. "I gotta see this."  
"Me too, luv." Marine agreed. "I wanna know your taste in dresses."  
"You aren't the only one." said Cream. "Okay Tails, show us what you fancy."

"No." Tails replied, crudely.

"And why not?" Tikal asked.  
"Because you'll laugh."

"Well, you either show us what you like, or we can have a repeat of panty shopping." Marine said, then stuck out her tongue.  
"And you don't know if we'll laugh at what you pick." said Rouge. "For all I know, you might like something that I like."

"Fine, but if anyone laughs, I'm out of here..." Tails said, before walking into the shop. Much to notice the difference in the atmosphere, no one was giving Tails looks in this shop. Tails walked up to and pointed out an ankle length dress with red flowers patterned on the front, from the breasts up was held in place with 2 straps, which went halfway down the back.

Rouge just smiled, though she had a sweatdrop on the back of her head. "I actually like that one." said Marine.  
"I wonder if there is one like that for my mom." said Cream. "She would like that kind of dress too."

"Well, there's only one thing to do." Tikal said.  
"What?" Tails questioned.  
"I like the dress." Amy said.  
"Me too." Tikal said, taking it from the hook. "Tails...let's go."  
"You're not going to make me put it on are you?"  
"Damn right I am." Tikal said, pushing Tails to the changing booths.

Whilst Tails was assisted by Tikal in getting the dress on, the other girls wondered around and picked out thier own dresses, Tikal and Tails were done by their return, so Tails came out in the same dress, and some matching shoes Amy picked up.

"So let's compare this time." said Cream.

How about a competition between Cream, Tails and Marine?" Tikal asked. "The rest of us will judge."

"Contest?" asked Cream.

"Find out which dress is the cutest." Tikal giggled.

"A day I never thought was coming that I'd be competing against Cream for 'cuteness'" Tails said. "She outmatches me anyway."

"Well, let's go then." said Marine. "Cream and I will hit up the fitting rooms and we'll let you judge."

"Don't underestimate yourself Tails, I think you look very cute." Tikal said as Cream and Marine headed to change.

It took a few minutes, but the girls came out of their fitting rooms sporting their new dresses. Marine stopped out in the traditional sailor style dress, with the navy white and blue stripes down the collar. The dress itself was all white with thin pleats and even sported yellow anchors. Marine even had on coral white leggings to match her dress.

Cream on the other hand came out of her fitting room wearing a Velk Chao Print Dress. The dress had spaghetti straps that were blue in colour which matched the line at the hem of her dress. The cross-hatching pattern on the dress had purple and turquoise stripes and were pal pink at the sides. She even gave a curtsy to add to the style.

"This will be a toughie..." Tikal said.  
"Tell me about it..." Amy replied.

"Cream's out." said Rouge. "I need more originality than that." Hearing this caused Cream to fall over to the side. Tails took this to instinctively help her get back up.  
"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine," Cream answered, "but what the hell, Rouge?"  
"Cream, don't get me wrong..." Rouge began. "I think you look lovely, but another Chao Print Dress? I need a bit more originality out of you."  
"But this is original..."  
"Just like it was when we went after the Nocturnus?"

"Originality isn't exactly bad, Rouge." Tails said.  
"I think Cream looks quite cute. If anything I'd count Marine out." Amy replied. "I'm not into the whole Sailor thing."

"I don't know, they all look cute to me. But I like Tails dress exceptionally. But Marine and Cream are cute too..I don't know. I'm going to have to think just a little longer." Tikal replied.

"Well, my vote goes for Marine." said Rouge.

"Then, we're at a standstill, cause I say Cream." Amy said.

"Well, one more vote and I win." said Marine.  
"Same here." said Cream. "But the last vote can go either way."

_I guess Tikal really needs to look things over._ Thought Rouge

"Just pick one of the other two and let's move on already." Tails moaned.  
"But..." Tikal replied. "I actually do like your dress a whole lot better, Tails..."  
"So, you're gonna go with Tails?" Amy asked.  
"Yes, Yes I am."

Marine felt a little bummed. "Okay, second part." she said. "Now it's time for the older girls to get dressed up."

"Now this...is gonna be fun." Tails grinned slyly.  
"Well, guess it's only fare. Okay girls, lets get our dresses." Amy said before heading off to find something decent.

"Try something that doesn't have a wide hem for a change." said Cream.

Amy fell over, holding a wide hem dress. "Curses..." She said.

"Well, that should keep her from being an exhibitionist." said Marine, then she stuck out her tongue. So Amy had to look a little harder, Tikal however had already picked up something and headed to change.

Rouge found something too, but... _I like this, but it won't fit the upper body._ she thought. _I need something to work with my guns._

Amy finally picked something and headed to change. Meanwhile, Tikal came out in a knee length orange dress with a long v-neck just slightly showing cleavage. She had a beaded necklace and around her waist were two strips holding the dress around her curves. She had heeled strip laced shoes to match.

Amy took a little longer, but came out in a tight pink dress with the lower rim coloured black, It had a single shoulder sleeved on the right side, as the left side was just a lace. The dress had two patterns, the left breast to the waist was netted as the rest was a pure silk line.

"Well, what do you guys think?" asked Marine.

"I'm gonna wait for Rouge first." Tails replied.

"Ditto." said Cream.  
"I guess we wait for Rouge then." said Marine.

"Damn it, none of this fits!" and the girls heard Rouge yell. "Why the hell me?!"

"Sounds like she's having a wardrobe malfunction." Tails said.

"Wanna surrender now, Rouge?" Amy called slyly.

"Not a chance." Rouge answered. And Rouge came out of her fitting room in the usual attire. "I'm not gonna let you girls steal my thunder." and off she went for another dress.

"Good luck, Rouge!" Tails called. "Not that anything in this shop will support her bust."  
"How do you know?" Amy asked.  
"Like I said, I've been here before, and I just happen to know all of your bust sizes, so it's easy to make the judgement."

"I guess she'll have to cram." joked Marine.

"Cram those jugs? I don't think so." Tikal responded.

"I guess she's out."

"I'm glad I don't have Rouge's chest." said Cream.

"You're young Cream, who knows. You might get a bigger bust." Amy snickered.  
"Let's hope busts don't run in your family, Cream." Tikal added.

"I'm just glad I don't have Blaze's chest." joked Marine.  
"That would be sad." said Cream. "Wave has more bust than Blaze and she's a bird."  
"Birds are supposed to have breasts." said Marine. "But I like the wings the most."

"You can't comment, Marine." Amy said. "I mean, chances are you have smaller titties than Blaze does."

Rouge finally shows up revealing a long red gown with slit at the side and the straps for the arms. She even wore matching red heels, but her chest looked somewhat uncomfortable. "Well, I got in this one." she said.  
"You crammed, didn't you?" asked Marine.  
"Hell no."  
_I got a bad feeling about her chest...._ thought Cream.

"Rouge, that dress looks like it's about to tear..." Tails said.

"You're just jealous because I found a dress that I can actually wear." said Rouge. "I heard that crack you made about my guns... and yours too, Tikal."

"Jealous? Not really, even I wouldn't cut my breasts air supply THAT much." Tails replied.  
"Anyway, let's get to judging before Rouge's dress can't handle it and she bulges out." Amy said.

"Jealous... you're just jealous." said Rouge.  
"You first, Tails." said Marine.

"Sorry, Rouge. Cutting you out of this one." Tails said. "I'm going with Amy."

"I like Tikal's dress personally." said Cream.  
"Well, I'm gonna go with..."  
But before Marine could pick, Rouge's dress tears. However, the tear gave the dress a Y-cut look to it.

"Come on luv, that's cheatin'..." said Marine.  
"Wow, that actually looks better." said Cream.

"I knew it was going to rip! I knew it!" Tails called. "You can't fit into a single dress in this whole shop." Tails then laughed, which despite the fact that it was a strike at Rouge's pride, it was a nice thing to see due to all the misery Tails had before.

"Marine, you were saying?" asked Cream.  
"My vote's for Tikal, because Rouge cheated." Marine answered.  
"You're all just mad at the fact that I look good." said Rouge. "And even with this, I still look good."  
"Yeah, but you have to buy that dress since you ripped it." said a nearby sales clerk.  
"And you people need stock up on dresses that make us D-cup girls look proper." Rouge complained. Then, the rip went further... but it was beyond help this time. It looked like the top of the dress exploded, which caused all of the girls, including the sales clerk to laugh hard at actually fell over laughing so hard.

"My ribs! Oh god, my ribs, make it stop, make it stop." She laughed.

"You might...wanna...get changed." Amy laughed.

Rouge went into the fitting room, changed into her regular clothes, then proceeded to the register to purchase her "torn" dress. "What's sad is that she could've asked for a discount if her dress stayed with the first rip." said Marine. "But now she has to pay full price."

"Well anyway, I believe you got two votes, eh, Tikal?" Tails said, panting on the floor having stopped laughing. "I'm gonna get this dress, I think." She then got onto her feet.

After the dress was rung up, Rouge left the store with a pissed expression. "Mommy, why does her dress look like something out of the Alien movies?" asked a young girl.

The girls laughed even harder. "That's not right." said Marine.

"Think we should go after her?" Tikal asked.  
"She's our friend, of course we should." And Amy and Tikal then quickly got back into the booth's to change. They then came out, put the dresses back and went outside to look for Rouge, but they had no idea where she'd gone. "Shoot."

Tails, Cream and Marine joined them afterwards, Tails carrying a bag over her shoulder.  
"They don't think that it's weird you're buying that?" Amy asked.  
"After telling them it's a present for one of these two, no." Tails replied.

"That's actually more disturbing because they saw you wear it." Tikal replied.  
"Bet." Tails replied. "They are actually very nice people in there. Unlike the panty shop."

_I hope Rouge isn't too mad._ Thought Cream.

Shadow was walking down the street. _Since when did Tails create an AI system for the workshop, I mean the girls a damn genius, I know, but does she really have nothing better to do with her time._ He thought, and then noticed a pissed off Rouge about to walk by, but he put his arm in front of her, halting her instantly.  
"Didn't get that special jewel discount, I take it?" Shadow asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Rouge answered.

Shadow then pointed to a coffee shop. "Can I at least get you a drink to calm down?"

"I need a real drink after what I just went through."

"Then, let's go get you something strong to chug." Shadow said, as he changed his direction to head to her club.

"Fine, I can grab a mixer while I work."

"Oh, you won't be working..." Shadow said.

"Fine, let's just grab a drink."

Back with the girls, they'd searched around for Rouge for 20 minutes with no luck, in the end, Tails stomach denied her the lie she was trying to put on about not being hungry, thus she was forced to have some food. However, this only led to her being in the bathroom, whilst the other girls waited.  
"How often does she do this?" Amy questioned.  
"Mum says she might have some...problems...in the lower regions due to you know..." Cream replied.  
"I see." Amy replied.

"You know, Tails did say there were cuts and tears." said Marine. "For all we know, she could be ribbons inside."

"Ribbons?" Tikal questioned. "I get more and more worried about this the more it comes up."

"No biggy... perhaps she just drunk a huge jug of water... or this is a side effect of those happy drugs." said Marine.

"I don't recall Tails being on any form of medication." Amy replied.

"I hope she doesn't have any form of infection..." Tikal said. "Perhaps we should take her to the doctors to get her checked out."

"Well, I say we take her to Dr. Quack." Tikal suggested.

"You can have a UTI from wizzin too much."  
"Is it really our right to force Tails to a doctor?" Amy asked.

"I agree, to the doc." said Marine.

As if on cue, Tails returned, wiping her face with both her hands.  
"Tails, we're takin-..." Amy said before she noticed. "Are you crying?"  
"N-no...I'm fine..." Tails said moving her hands, but was clearly lying.  
"What's wrong?" Tikal asked.  
"Peeing is painful."  
"Something tells me that's not the whole truth."  
"I also feel bad about laughing at Rouge..."

"Anyway...It's been unanimously agreed that we're taking you to see Dr. Quack." Amy said. Tails simply shrugged.  
"Okay." She said. _It's about time I got checked out anyway._ She thought._  
_"Really...that's it?"  
"What do you expect me to say?"  
"No argument, no fighting back?"  
"What makes you think I'm not as worried about my condition as you are?"  
"Point taken."

"Well, off to the doc." said Marine.

So the girls then headed off in the direction of their favourite doctor, chatting along the way.  
"So, what shall we do after this?" Tikal asked.

"Well, there's a lovely cake shop I'd like to visit." Amy said.  
"You shouldn't eat too much Amy, or Sonic will never be interested in you." Tails shot. _Not that he will anyway..._ Tails thought to herself.

"It's not like a little cake will make me put on much weight, Tails!" Amy shot back.

"Depends on the calorie count." said Marine.

"And how much you eat." Tikal added.  
"Stop making it sound like I'm some kind of cake murdering pig..." Amy huffed.

"No, you're just an exhibitionist." said Marine

"And how would you know?!" Amy countered.

"Your knickers show with almost every move you make. That and you just admitted it.

"Moving on, what other things does everyone have planned?"

"I'm going home." Tails replied.  
"But, there's so many other things for us to do." Amy said.  
"I'm tired of being your model..."

"Well, after the doc." said Marine.

"We'll stop modelling you, but please hang out with us a little longer." Tikal said to Tails.  
"I'll think about it.." Tails replied. And the girls arrived at the doc's, booking Tails in and sat to wait.

"Cream, you've been awfully quiet, are you okay?" Tails asked.

"A lot has been on my mind." Cream answered

"Likewise, Cream, but I like to talk to you still, you know."

"Yeah... I just don't have much to discuss."

"Oh, okay, I'll leave you be then..." Tails said sadly, lowering her ears and looking away. _I really wish I knew what to say to her..._ Cream thought. Amy stood up and took Cream by the hand.  
"Can I speak to you over there, Cream?" She asked, pointing to the other side of the room. Cream said nothing, but responded with a nod. The two then walked off. _Cream seems out of it._ thought Marine. _I guess it's "Good Captain" time again._

Amy took Cream to the other side of the room, out of hearing range of the other girls, sitting Cream down and sitting next to her.  
"Sweetie, I know this is hard for you, but you gotta remember what Tails is going through all of a sudden. The change is...different for all of us. But Tails is going through the biggest change in her entire life and not many people go from being a boy to a girl over night. Talk to me, I wanna know what's on your mind." Amy said, rubbing her arm soothingly.

"I.... I just don't know how to approach this." Cream answered. "Maybe I should become a boy."

"And...why?" Amy questioned, a little taken back.

"I wish I knew."

"Okay, Cream. This might sound a little weird but...you don't have to be different genders...in order to be together, you know? It might sound weird but loads of people in the world are like that." Amy said. "I'm not saying go right into the lesbo thing, but consider that before you seriously consider changing your own sex."

"Noted."

"You wanna head back over, or would you like to stay over here and chat with me for a little while?" Amy asked.

"Let's go." And with that, the two walked back over to the other girls.

"Feeling better now?" Tikal asked.

"Somewhat." Cream replied.

"You know, this is really a hard series of days for all of us." said Amy. "Despite the shopping, it feels like we have some salty wounds."

"I wish I could go a day without 'salty wounds'. Just one day where I don't need to be reminded..." Tails uttered.  
"It'll pass, it always does." Tikal said. "Time heals all wounds."

_I think that isn't the case with internal wounds._ thought Cream.  
"Well, well, well, hello ladies." said Dr. Quack as he walks out. "Come on back, Tails."

Tails stood and headed over.  
"She'll be okay, right?" Tikal questioned, walking over to the doctor. "We're worried she might have..." And Tikal whispered the rest to the Doctor, just encase she offended Tails. Then looks at Quack.

"I'll check." said Dr. Quack. "Tails, would you prefer Tikal accompanying you back here?"

"No..." Tails replied solemnly.

"So just you and me?"

Tails thought for a moment. "Actually, I changed my mind, Tikal can come." She said.

"Hey, why Tikal over me?" asked Amy.  
"Because the Knuckles tribe is known for fighters." Dr. Quack answered. "But perhaps you can't handle being the first defense..."  
"Nevermind." and Amy say down. "Cream and I can handle things here."  
"Don't forget about me, luv." added Marine.  
"Come on you two, let's go." said Dr. Quack and the three went back into the office.

As Dr Quack closed the door, Tails turned to Tikal.  
"Tikal, what you see and hear in this room stays in this room. I don't want this told to anyone yet." she said to her.  
"Hm? Okay, I'm fine with that, I guess. Surely an infection isn't too worrying, is it?" Tikal asked.  
"It's not that kind of infection." Tails replied.

_So Tails hasn't said anything yet._ Thought Dr. Quack. "So Tails, I hope you haven't been exerting yourself." he said.

"Unless running to the bathroom every morning, evening and after meals, not really..." Tails replied.

"But other than that, how have you been feeling?"

"Miserable." Tails replied. "I'm so emotionally unstable at points I just cry for no reason at all." Tikal was watching and listening intently, but was confused at the conversation taking place.

"Ah, unexpected mood swings... Well, you'll get more mood swings as the days go on."

"Honestly, I hope they don't get worse..." Tails said, before finding a seat. "I don't like crying on a normal day, now a simply toilet brush can set me off..."

"Trauma... this is a form of trauma. I guess this will keep you out of the lab. With all of your G&Gs and whatnot."

"G&Gs?" Tikal questioned.

"Gadgets and Gizmos..." Dr. Quack sighed. "I can never understand that LOL and MTC and BBF bullshit."

"Likewise." Tikal replied.  
"I'd explain them, but I'm not really in the mood." Tails commented.  
"I'm still confused as to what's going on..." Tikal said. "I know it's not my business but..."  
"I'm pregnant..." Tails blurted. This froze Tikal solid. No movement, no words, nothing, just stood there looking at Tails eyes wide, trying to take in what she just heard.

"While Tikal absorbs things, lay down up here and let's see how you've healed inside." said Dr. Quack.

Tikal sank to her knees whilst Tails obeyed and did so. She looked over at Tikal, then back to Dr. Quack.  
"Do you think I said it too fast?" She asked.

"I don't think she ever would've pictured you pregnant." Dr. Quack answered. "I can only imagine what Marine will say, and Cream will probably be in tears."

"Please...don't remind me..." Tails said as she herself looked like she was inches from crying. "I don't want to tell them, ever..."

"Trust me, you will. A foetus never lies... speaking of which, what's the verdict on yours?"

"Huh?"

"Okay, so you're going through with your term. I still need you to lie up here."

Tails lies down on the bed and looks to the roof. "Yeah...I'm keeping it, somehow I don't think Egghead would have bypassed the idea of abortion, so it's probably unaffected by it."

"I see." and Dr. Quack sat near Tails' legs.

Tikal finally made a move and stood up. "Could I...get a drink or something?" She asked, her voice clearly showing she's still in shock.

"I'll grab you a cup of water, be right back." said Dr. Quack, then he left Tikal and Tails alone.

Tikal took a chair and rubbed her head. "I feel sick."  
"Welcome to my world."  
"I can't believe what I'm hearing..."

"You're taking it a lot better than I did." Tails replied.  
"That's probably because I'm not the victim here." Tikal said.  
"True..."  
"How can this be happening? How did I not see it?"  
"You weren't to know."  
"No, I should have, I should have recognised the symptoms..."  
"Why?"  
"Long story, I don't want to discuss."

Dr. Quack entered the room and handed the cup of water to Tikal, then sat back down. "Now Tails, here's what is going to happen." he began. "I'll lift your legs and place them in these holsters, and then I'll use forceps and have a look inside."

"Will it hurt?" Tails asked.

Tikal gulped down the water and then released a long sigh. "How have you kept that a secret all this time."  
"It's not a secret when Dr Quack and Vanilla know." Tails replied.

"Anyway, you're the doctor, so do what you need to do..."

"Okay, let's get started." said Dr. Quack. "Tails, try to relax during all of this."

And Tails took a deep breath, answering with a nod. Tikal took it upon herself to look away. _I can't believe this. It's so...sickening...Tails is so young and to be pregnant to top it off, she's single to boot...who or what is the father to her baby...How am I going to keep this a secret, I wish I knew what to do..._ She trained in her mind.

Dr. Quack slowly lifted Tails' legs. _A part of me feels that this support is uncomfortable to both of these girls._ he thought, then started to separate Tails' legs. The left leg was locked in first, then the right leg. "Any tenderness from that, kiddo?" he asked.

"Not really." Tails replied, she was blushing slightly, twiddling her thumbs and watching the roof.

"What about you, Tikal?"

"Huh?" Tikal asked confused, looking over her shoulder. "What about me?"

"Are you feeling a bit sore yourself?"

"Why would I be?" Tikal was slightly confused.

"This sort of thing could be new to you." And Dr. Quack began rubbing the forceps. "I mean, you practically had an episode when Tails broke the news to you."

"You've lost me completely.." Tikal said looking away. Tails hissed slightly as she felt a slight painful twinge. "I feel sick, but not sore..."

Dr. Quack finished rubbing off the forceps. "You okay, Tails?"

"It hurt a little bit...I guess your insides don't tend to heal as quickly as the outsides..." Tails replied. "Like I said to the girls earlier, it does hurt to pee from time to time."

"Well, I'll use the forceps now, so brace yourself."

"I hope it doesn't hurt too badly..." Tails said. "I'll try and remain calm though."  
"I guess you won't be doing the splits any time soon, huh, Tails?" Tikal joked, trying to lift her own mood mainly.  
"Har har, very funny..."

_She needs that humour._ Thought Dr. Quack as he slowly inserts the forceps.

Tails tensed slightly at the odd feeling, but relaxed as she was told to, her heart raced slightly and she blushed even more so. _Just stay relaxed. Relax...calm, calm, calm..._ Tikal began humming a tune out of the blue, the melody being a soft, relaxing hymn, which seemed to help ease Tails nerves and she relaxed more so.

Dr. Quack fully had the forceps inside of Tails, then closed his hand to open the forceps and Tails' pussy.

Tails moaned slightly in pain as he did so, but Tikal's humming remained, thus it wasn't very long before Tails had relaxed again.

Dr. Quack took a look inside of Tails' uterus. "Well, no wonder it stings. Your insides are inflamed" he said.

"How do you mean?" Tails asked, slightly worried.

"Well, you're red inside instead of pink. Also, some of your cuts appear to be infected with your own urine." Dr. Quack answered. "At least your swelling went down."

Tikal stopped humming to speak. "So she does have infection?"  
"Keep singing, it was soothing..." Tails said.  
"Thanks, I discovered that around 4000 plus years ago." Tikal replied.

"I'll need to smear in here, hold still." said Dr. Quack.

"Please don't hurt me..." Tails said, almost pleading.  
"Is there anything you can tell about the...infant...at this point?" Tikal asked.

"In a second." answered Dr. Quack and took a smear through the forceps.

Tails cringes a little bit before letting out a slight squeal and relaxes, tears rolling from her eyes to the pain. Tikal at this point began to worry herself and decided to take action. She stood and walked over to Tails, taking one of her hands and gently stroking her head to sooth her. She succeeded in keeping Tails 'tamed'.

"So, it's that irritating?" asked Dr. quack

"It stings..." Tails replied.

"Like I said, irritated. I think also infected too."

"What else needs to be done in there, because I'm getting uncomfortable..." Tails said.  
"There, there, Tails. Let the doctor do his job." Tikal said to Tails.

Dr. Quack placed the swab of the smear in a jar. "I don't like how red you are in here." he said. "Well, there aren't any other signs of bruising, so lemme leave the house." and Dr. Quack closed the forceps. The forceps were then removed from Tails' body. "Have you felt any sharp pain along your inner thighs?" he asked.

"Not recently." Tails replied.

"And how do you clean yourself after a piss?"

"Like I usually do." Tails said. "A single sheet dry, not much more than that."

"Tikal, could you stand outside in front of the door, please?"

"Hm? Sure." Tikal said, before taking her exit. As soon as she closed the door, the other girls ran over to ask questions about it all. Tikal pushed the girls away from the room into the hall again.  
"She's slightly infected but...no real news than that." Tikal lied.  
"Oh, I hope she'll be okay."  
"Clearly they need to speak Patient Doctor Confidentiality, because I was just asked to wait outside." Tikal said.

Back in the room.

"That didn't quite help me out there, Tails." Dr. Quack told her. "Gonna need more info than that."

"What more can I say?" Tails questioned. "I pee, I take a sheet of toilet paper, I dry myself off and flush..."

Dr. Quack sighed. "Fare enough. Most women wipe back to front, some wipe inside of the labia, some women even put the TP on the inside to wipe excess urine from the vaginal lining. Either way, one wipe per sheet so you don't risk further irritation."

"Fare enough." Tails blushed. "So, what next?"

Dr. Quack scribbled with the pen. "I'm prescribing a type of gel for you. It's gentle for your lining, medicated for you and works in the same way as a can of whip cream. You can work whip cream, right?"

"I've done so, yes..." Tails replied.

"I will also prescribe this rinse for you. Use it after you urinate to keep from... stinging your insides." And Dr. Quack unlocks Tails' ankles.

Tails turns and sits on the edge of the bed. "Okay." She said.

Dr. Quack stands up, hands the prescriptions to Tails, heads to the door, then motions for Tikal. Tikal nods and enters the room, and then the doctor continues. "So, what have you been eating?"

"Mostly nutritious foods and fruits with the occasional junk." Tails replied. "I've been trying more to keep my own strength than anything else."

"The junk being the chilidog we forced you?" Tikal asked.  
"That, and 4 days ago Vanilla ordered us all pizza and I couldn't turn it away because she'd gone and spent more money to feed me as well. I can tell you that didn't go well with my insides. Was nice though."

Dr. Quack was looking at Tails' abdomen. "Any stomach cramps?" he questioned.

"Yes, at times. They usually follow up with me hurling though." Tails said.

"So nothing from the foetus?"

"Honestly, the cramps were cramps; I never took the time to think where they were from." Tails replied.

"Aha... Well, if you feel like your foetus is in pain, see me right away."

"How will I be able to determine if it's me or the foetus?"

"You'll feel like you're bleeding inside, or something is ravaging your womb. At this time, you don't have much of a gut, so your first born is about the size of a grape. Not bad for two weeks."

"A...grape?" Tikal questioned.

"A grape. It's only been two weeks. You should start to appear chubby by day nineteen. So until then, don't over walk... or overfly, limit the junk and salty foods, take your dogs plain or with relish. No onions, sauerkraut*, and especially no chilli. Limit your greasy foods, but take a cod liver oil pill if you need too..."

"Hm, I can live with that." Tails said.

"So, have you felt any soreness in your torso?"

"Not particularly." Tails replied.

"Any swelling or increased sensitivity in your chest?"

"It throbs pretty badly if I sneeze or swallow in medium to large chunks, but no swelling or anything."

Dr. Quack had an intrigued look on his face. "Show me where this throbbing occurs." he said.

Tails then pointed to the centre of her chest. "About here..." then points to just inches about her belly button. "To here."

"I take it that's where you're cramps originate from?"

"Some are slightly lower, but generally yes."

"It's probably a type of heartburn or allergic reaction. Then again, that could be the foetus telling you what it likes to eat. Some mothers-to-be get instances like that, or certain foods taste burnt. Certain foods will also cause you to hurl, or may even taste horrible, or have no taste at all."

"I hope none of my favourite foods do that." Tails said worried. "I like taste."

"So, since it's just a 'grape' you won't be checking up on it or..?" Tikal wondered. Tails narrowed her eyes.  
"You're more curious about this kid than I am..." She said.

"Just remember that echidnas don't experience birth like foxes." said Dr. Quack. "You have a few things that Tikal doesn't have, Tails."

"Now I am curious." Tails said.

"Look at it this way. Tikal's child will have to be born, then has to hatch from the egg, where you will give live birth. You also have nipples... something that Tikal does not. So if you ever wonder what breasts look like without nipples, look at Tikal's chest... er, not literally. But on the other hand, female echidnas have two vaginas."

Tails fell over. "You have...two...vaginas..?" She asked. She then regained her composure.  
"You sound surprised." Tikal said.

"You can't keep falling over like that, Tails." warned Dr. Quack. "You have to understand that the monotreme is an interesting female."

"I see. I'll keep that in mind." Tails said. "Anything else we need to do?"

"What's the hurry?" Tikal asked.  
"Cream and the others. If we're too long, they're gonna asked more questioned than I'd like."

"Other than pick up your prescriptions in an hour, don't over walk or overfly, don't insert any shaft-like objects inside of you, leave the female echidna anatomy lesson for another day..." answered Dr. Quack. "And most importantly, **stay out of the lab!** No inventions whatsoever."

"Shaft-like objects? Why would I do that anyway?" Tails questioned.

"Shaft-like objects, like 'toys', wrenches, screwdrivers, the cardboard rolls from toilet paper, paper towels, tampons, objects that look like spires or obelisks... and I thought you wanted to reduce how much you were gonna get grilled. Only thing that should be going in you have to deal with your prescriptions. Understand that."

"You make it sound like I masturbate on a regular basis..." Tails narrowed her eyes.

"You can't even have vaginal sex, let alone masturbate." said Dr. Quack. "It'll cause you to tear. Now I'll see you at the end of the month, young lady. So until then, think about breaking the news to everyone, including Sonic."

"Do I have to?" Tails moaned. "I can just tell that the reactions are going to do far more damage than Eggman ever could to me."

"You can live without 'blooming the rose', and you'll be better off telling everyone, you can't hide a pregnancy... and hiding it could endanger your lives."

"How's that?"

"Run along, you two. Let's not keep your friends waiting any longer than they should."

Tails bowed to Dr. Quack and took her leave with a thank you. Tikal however remained a little bit longer.  
"I want to know, is there anything that I can do to help Tails?" She asked.

"Keep her from falling over, killing herself, over walking and over flying, and make sure that girl eats healthier." Dr. Quack answered. "Luckily, she doesn't have UTI."

"That's good, but there's nothing else I could do?" Tikal asked once more. "I'm sorry if I am being paranoid, but I'm just so worried now. Tails isn't ready for motherhood, this I know..."

"Be as supportive as possible, even during her mood swings. Also, let Tails tell everyone she's pregnant. It'll take the stress off of her if she does it instead of you or anyone else blurting it out."

"I gave my word I wouldn't tell, and I'm an honest girl. I guess that's why I was chosen to hear it first." Tikal replied. She bowed. "Thank you so much, Doctor. I'll be on my way now." She said, before following Tails.

Dr. Quack shook his head. _It's times like these that I'm glad Tails has friends and people that care about her._ He thought. _She's a young pup, but she'll make it with everyone's support. Hopefully, she won't lose it to the point the other part of Tails doesn't appear._

"Took you long enough." Amy said, as Tails and Tikal walked over. "So, what happened then?"  
"I was given some virginal spray and whip cream." Tails replied.

"So, are you okay on the inside?" asked Cream.

"Well, if I leave my insides alone, I should be fine." Tails replied. "Save for the prescription of course..."

"So, you were saying about some cake shop, Amy?" Tikal questioned.  
"We can go wherever, but I need to pick up my things in an hour from here." Tails said.  
"No problem. Onto the cake shop." Amy said, marching out of the building.

"I swear she's gonna regret the cake she wants to eat." said Marine.

"Yes, but it'll be funny to watch." Tails replied.  
"Hey! It won't do anything bad to me." Amy snapped.  
"It won't do you any good either." Tails countered.

Cream and Marine laughed. _Man, I needed this._ Cream thought as she wrapped her arms around her stomach during her laughter.

"Are you calling me fat?!" Amy barked.  
"No, but in 30 minutes I will." Tails replied.

This response had all of the girls looking at Tails. "Is there something you want to tell us, luv?" asked Marine.

"I'm well aware of Amy's choice in cakes. She likes the higher calorie types, why are you looking at me like that?" Tails sweat-dropped.

"Well, you do have a point." Cream answered.  
"I was just wonderin' if you have something else to say in regards to you being fat." said Marine.

"You misheard me..." Tails said. "Amy asked if I was calling her fat, I said no, but I will be calling her fat in 30 minutes." Tails looked over her shoulder at Tikal who simply shrugged. "Okay, seriously...back up, would you?" Tails said to the rest of the gang.

Marine looked confused. "Maybe we should take you to Rouge and bring you a cake from the baker?" she offered.

"I'd still like to apologise to Rouge." Tails said.  
"That'd be good, we can all apologise, we were pretty nasty to her." Tikal said.  
"I know just the cake!" Amy said.  
"We want to apologise, not fatten her up, Amy." Tails countered.

After a last few chuckles, the girls moved onto the cake shop, after purchasing a 'special sorry cake' they headed on to Rouges Club.

Meanwhile, in said club, Shadow had cleared it out and the two shared a few sharp ones, but not enough to get either of them tipsy.  
"Feeling better now?" Shadow questioned.

"Yeah." Rouge answered.

"Good." Shadow replied. "You wouldn't happen to know the locations of any of the Chaos Emeralds, would you?"

"Nope."

"Fare enough. So other than this previously tragic incident, how are you holding up?"

"A little better. I'm still worried about Tails though..." and Rouge sighs. "Poor girl, she was raped by a machine and Sonic seems to be keeping his distance from her. I really thought those two were close..."

"When the going gets tough, Sonic gets going, as far as I am concerned. Pit him up against 1000 robots and the Doctor, he'll charge in and fight without a care in the world, trying to beat his 'knock down' record. Pit him against a situation he has to learn to deal with forever and he's the biggest coward around." Shadow retorted, taking another drink. "For now, I'll take his place in keeping an eye on Tails, since he's so incompetent."

"I think you need to lighten up on the drinks."

"It's not like they affect me anyway." Shadow replied. "Damn Sonic...Grow up already..." He then finished his drink and pushed the glass aside.

"You have to admit though; Sonic is used to solving problems with his fast feet. Running won't solve what happened to Tails. For all we know, he probably feels powerless. I know I felt powerless having to watch it as I hung from my wrists. Amy was lucky, but Tails was right next to me."

"Damn it!" Shadow roared, slamming his hands into the table. "Why in the hell didn't we get there faster?!" He gritted his teeth. "It pisses me off!"

"Trust me, I'm glad you guys didn't show up later. That's not to say that I'm mad for you two not showing up sooner..."

"We could have done better, damn it!" Shadow was pissed.

"That's it, no more drinks for you."

"Fine by me." Shadow said, walking away from the bar. He took out a small sack. "Here, this should cover me and the damages from the other day." He tosses the bag behind him toward Rouge.

"Well, thanks for the help." said Rouge and took the bag.

Shadow then took his leave. As he walked out of the club, he looked up and noticed the group of girls coming over. He walked over to them.  
"I hear you girls were a little less than nice." He said. "Not that I care what you do."  
"Nice to see you too Shadow." Tails said.  
"How are things any..." Shadow then noticed the glowing of the chaos emeralds he had, pulling one out. "Looks like its hunt time again." He said, putting the emerald away. "Oh, give me permission to take the emerald in your shop." Shadow said to Tails.  
"Say please." She grinned coyly.  
"....What?"  
"Say please." Tails repeated.

"Forget I even bothered. I'll just rip the place open for it." And Shadow walked around the girls.  
"So much for him..." Amy snarled.  
"Let's just go and see Rouge, no doubt she's here." Tikal said. The girls nodded and walked into Club Rouge.


	6. Chapter 6

[WARNING: Adult Theme's toward the end, but not too drastic.]

The girls entered our favourite bat's club with Amy carrying the cake they got for her in apology. However, upon reaching inside, Rouge wasn't about.  
"She must have gone into the back." Tikal said. "Anyone brave enough to fish her out?"

"How good of you to volunteer." said Marine.

"Well, fine. I don't mind. At least I'm not a chicken shit, like a certain raccoon we met today." Tikal shrugged. "Be back in a little bit." She then wonders off into the staff area, looking for Rouge.

"Harsh..." Amy wondered. "I hope she comes out alive."  
"I hope they both come out..." Tails narrowed her eyes.

Meanwhile, in the back, Tikal was still searching for Rouge.  
"Is she in the bathroom, I wonder...?" She questioned aloud. "She walked over to Rouge's personal room and knocked 3 times. "Rouge? Are you here?"

A voice responded, but it wasn't human. "Please state the password." it said.

"Oh crud..." Tikal uttered. "I think I'll just leave..." And with that, Tikal turned to leave the staff area.

"Access denied."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. For all I know her password would be ILIKEGEMS or something stupid like that." Tikal said, walking away.

"Access denied."

"I know, I know, geez..." And Tikal left the staff door, finding the other girls. "I'm going to assume she's in the bathroom." She said. "I knocked on her door, but it asked for a password."  
"Let me guess, you tried Chaos Emerald or something?" Tails asked.  
"No, I didn't bother trying."

"Wow, talk about security." said Marine.  
"Does anyone know what her password might be?" asked Cream.

"I have my guesses, but nothing beyond Gems or jewels." Tails replied.

"Possibly, Knuckles rod is-..." And Tikal gripped Amy over the mouth.  
"Now, now, no need for that." She said to her.

"I better go and try." said Cream and off she went into the back.

It took a bit of walking, but she managed to get to the door, then gave two raps. "Please state the password." said the same voice that Tikal encountered.  
_Hmm..._ Cream thought. _What would I make a password if I were Rouge?_ Cream then got an idea. "The password is areola." she answered.

"Access denied."  
"Crud...." Cream snapper her fingers then gave a few more raps.  
"Please state the password."  
"Seven emeralds."  
"Access denied."  
"You've gotta be kidding me."  
"Access denied."

Cream was now agitated, so you gave a few more raps. "Please state the password." the voice replied.  
"Jewel-obsessed bitch!" Cream yelled.  
"Access denied."  
"Will you open the god damn door already?"  
"Little girls like you shouldn't have such a potty mouth."  
_You piece of shit...._ Now Cream was really upset. "Open up, or I'll hack you."

"Your access is permanently denied." the voice said.  
"Yeah right." and Cream reaches into her pocket to pull out what appeared to be a pocket radio. She pointed the antenna at the eye and began pressing a few buttons. This caused malfunction noises to be heard. "No... does not-does not-does not compute.... com..... puuuutee...." was said from the voice.  
"100100101 111000101 010011010 111011101." Cream said.  
"Unable to compute...."  
"110011101 000100110 001000110 010100110."  
"Will not comply."  
"000001101 100101010 010101000 010000010."

After that, the door to Rouge's room opened, and Cream put the device away. _Hacking device... the world's most devastating cyber weapon._ She thought and walked inside.

"INTRUDER DETECTED! INITIATING IMMIDIATE DESTRUCTION!" And Omega walked out of the shade, arms into machine guns aimed at the young doe.

"Oh crap."

In three seconds, the other girls heard the sounds of ammunition fire. "Um, should we be concerned?" asked Marine. Tails did not really respond well, she simply ran to the staff door and was followed by Amy, then the rest of the girls who ran down the hall.

The girls see Cream running towards them. "Run renegade robot!" she yelled.  
"Robot?" ask Marine and Tikal.  
"Run away."

"SCANNING THE AREA! MORE UNAUTHORISED INTUDERS DETECTED! CHANGING EXECUTION METHOD!" And Omega changed his weapon.  
"Seriously Cream, what the fuck did you do?!" Tails cried in terror.

"I tried guessing the password and it didn't work." Cream answered. "So I hacked the door to get in, then this happened."  
"How the hell did you hack the door?" asked Marine.

"BEGIN EXECUTION!" And Omega opened fired with a chain gun. The girls squealed and continued running.  
"Talk later! Run now!" And the girls escaped to the main bar and headed to the exit when Tikal falls, shot in the back by Omega's gun, she fell to the floor, the red on her back plainly telling she was hit, the other girls stopped and quickly ran over to them as Omega ceased his fire.  
"TARGET HIT!" He said, walking toward the others, weapon aimed.  
"This robot is seriously going to kill us!" Amy cried.

"Okay, Omega, That's enough. I think we've fucked with them enough." Said a familiar bat, floating from the roof into one of Omega's oversized hands.  
"What...?" Amy questioned. "Fucked with us? But you shot Tikal..." It was at this point Tikal screamed.  
"Ahhh, that damn well hurt!" She cried out.  
"It's a paintball, get over it." Rouge said. "Well, I'd call us even now, but I reckon I could get more from this."

"You bunch of drongos!" Marine yelled. "And to think we even brought you an 'I'm sorry' cake. Now it's ruined because you decided to go full salvo on us."

Tikal sat up. "My dress is ruined..." She moaned.  
"You have another, don't you?" Amy asked.  
"No, I didn't buy it..."

"Well, I guess that's what you get for prying into my room." said Rouge.

Tails fell on her back, panting hard. "Oh boy...Dr Quack's gonna be pissed at me..." She wheezed.

"You feeling okay, Tails?" asked Marine.

"I was told not to over walk or overfly...and here I was running around..." Tails tried to move pointlessly, cringing in pain. "And yep...my hips don't forgive me either...I'm just gonna lie here for a bit."

Cream felt bad. "Well, I'm gonna go home now." she said. "Catch you later." and out the door she left.

"Hey! Cream wai-..." Slam... "Never mind..." Tails sighed. "I should probably go with if I could move..."

Marine was looking at Tikal. "And this dress is officially ruined." she said. "Oil paints leave wicked stains."

"Don't remind me. Well, I'm going to go home and change then..." Tikal then stood and headed to the door. "If anything, I regret coming here to apologize to you, Rouge. See ya." And out she left.

"You can clean my third hydraulic, you stupid meat-bag." said Omega with his arms raised.

Tails sweat drops. "Anyway...I'm sorry I laughed at you Rouge." She said.

"Yeah, me too." Amy replied. "Looking back on this whole charade...I feel kinda silly for believing Omega really was going to kill us."

"Omega, huh?" asked Marine. "I gotta admit that your colours are something else."

Rouge leaped down from Omega's hand and walked over to Tails. "Okay girls, let's get Tails over to that chair. I'm not sure the floor is either comfortable or hygienic for her to be lying there." She said.

Marine had an odd look on her face as she helped Tails stand up. "You want me to talk to Cream later?" she asked.

"Would you?" Tails asked.  
"I could talk to her, she is my best friend after all." Amy said.

And Rouge and Marine carefully helped Tails to the long cushion chair where she sat.

"No problem, luv. I'll do anything I can for my crew." said Marine happily.

"Fine, I'll stay out of this one then." Amy pouted.  
"Really? Thanks Amy!" Tails said happily, making the pink hedgehog trip.

"ODDLY SPEAKING WOODLAND CREATURE DOES NOT COMPUTE." said Omega. "SUCH A CONFUSING LITTLE BRAT."

"And there you go again flashin' your knickers." said Marine. "Well, I better go now if I plan on catching up to her." and off Marine went after Cream.

"Lemme get you something to drink, Tails." Rouge offered.

"Anything'll do so long as it's not alcoholic..." Tails replied. "Thanks."

"You never were a drinker... One tequila coming up."

"No, just a juice or water is fine, thanks..." Tails protested.

Rouge got a drink for tails and handed it to her. "I hope you like lime."

Tails took the drink and sniffed it slightly, her super sensitive nose trying to pick up any alcoholic traces. Amy was curious.  
"Why are you being so fickle about a bit of al?" She asked.  
"Doctors orders." Tails replied.

"Just drink it, Tails... or are you allergic to limes?" questioned Rouge. "And you can't talk, Amy. The only time you've had any drinks is if your water is spiked."

"I drink my fare share!" Amy barked. "Well, if you girls don't mind, I'm taking off. I'll catch you all later." And Amy took her leave.  
"I wonder if she's leaving for proper reasons, or if you hit a sore spot." Tails said, taking a gentle sip of her drink.

"I'm curious, so why exactly ARE you dodging Alcohol? You pregnant or something?" Rouge joked and laughed, however Tails did nothing but lower her ears sadly, not defending herself at all, making Rouge stop laughing and realise. Rouge had an intrigued look on her face. "Omega, run a scan on Tails."  
"COMMENCING SCAN." said Omega.

Red beams left the robot's eye and scanned Tails' body head to toe where she sat, then stopped at Tails' hips. "WARNING... WARNING.... PARASITE HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY OF ORANGE FOREST CREATURE." Omega's claws began to spin around. "INITIATE CLEANSING PROTOCOL APLHPA THETA PI."

"No, cancel protocol, Omega. that isn't a parasite." said Rouge.

Tails didn't say a word, nor show fear, instead she simply put the drink aside on a table and lowered her head sadly.

Rouge walked over to Tails. "Wow, I nailed your coffin twice on two separate instances." she said. "You definitely have to down that drink now."

"Why? What difference would it make..." Tails replied sadly.

"It'll help build up your strength."

"What does physical strength even matter when I'm so completely mentally unstable that I can't...I can't tell people? Everyone who knows figured it out on their own, except for Tikal who I personally chose to tell..." Tails replied. "I keep lying to myself, telling myself that everything's fine, that nothing ever happened and that I'm still the same normal Tails that I used to be..." Tails said, as tears trailed her cheeks and dripped off of her snout.

"This drink actually helps your brain cells. So in a way, you'll be getting a mental boost." answered Rouge as she pulled a seat up next to Tails. "Does Sonic know about this?"

"No...Only you, Vanilla, Tikal and my doctor." Tails replied, wiping her face. "Oh, and the parasite enemy over there."

"Head into the back, Omega. Heart-to-heart time." Rouge told the robot.  
"Affirmative." said Omega and he went into the back.  
"Now, are you gonna down that drink, or do I have to force you? And you know I can force you..." Rouge addressed Tails. Tails sees no reason why not to listen and her crying did make her thirsty, even if she hadn't stopped crying. She took the drink and downed the rest of it.

Rouge pats Tails on the back. "Congratulations, you just had your first Mojito." said Rouge. "Virgin of course, but a mojito nonetheless. So, how do you feel?"

"A what?"

"A Mojito... Well, just the mix anyway. It's nothing but lime juice and citrus stimulates the brain... at least that's what I read in a Citrus Health magazine. Anyway, how do you feel?"

"Slightly refreshed, but no less miserable..." Tails replied with a few tearful hiccups.

"I like Mojitos myself. And every now and again, I let Cream have a glass of Pink Panties."

"Pink...what?" Tails looked at Rouge weird.

"Pink Panties."

"I'm getting really wrong ideas here, Rouge..." Tails replied.

"Fine, I'll make you a glass."

"No no, I'm fine, I've drank enough..." Tails protested.

But Rouge was already mixing up the drink. In the end, the bat poured two glasses of the pink coloured drink. "Trust me, even you can go for a glass of this." said Rouge. "Then again, Strawberries are good to drink." and Rouge walked over with the glasses, then placed a cherry on top of each one. "Unfortunately, this came out more like a slushy, but you'll like it."

Tails shrugged and took the drink. "Thanks...for not freaking out too much...I appreciate it..." She said out of the blue.

"Trust me, my freaking out won't help you as the days go on." Rouge said. "So, how do you plan on letting this out of the bag?"

"Honestly...I don't know." Tails replied. "Those who do know, like I said, mainly guessed. I'm really scared..."

"Of course you're scared, it's your first pregnancy." stated Rouge. "A lot of new mothers are scared when it comes to their first pregnancy. They don't know what to do, how to prepare, or consider their options. All of this is normal... except how you were pregnant in the first place. But rest assured that I will help you however you want me too."

"You wouldn't kill me if I asked you too, and even if I did I wouldn't really want to die..." Tails stated. "I considered Abortion, but Eggman must have foreseen that option and overcome it, so I'd be wasting my time. I'm keeping it..."

"I see. Luckily for you, I kept my Steel Toe Boots, so believe that I will be using them in due time. But enough about that, let's get you on the brighter side of life for a change. Moping won't turn back time, you know."

"But what am I going to do? I don't know how to be a mother. And Even if I did I'm prime target for Eggman. There's no telling how far he'll go to get his hands on me now." Tails cried.

"You'll be a great mother, probably better than some of our own mothers. Just remember that you have help with not only your pregnancy, but also being a mother. And Heaven will be a raging inferno before any of us let that sadistic doctor get his hands on you."

"I'm scared..." Tails cried quietly.

"Let your tears flow, Tails. It'll help you overcome everything. I'll be over here at the bar if you need anything." and Rouge walked the ten feet from Tails behind the bar. _Eggman, I swear on all the gems in the world. You'll be murdered if you ever try this on anyone else._ She thought.

After 30 minutes, Tails stood up and stretched, having felt better from her previously unwanted exercise. She walked over to the counter.  
"Rouge...I'm heading over to Vanilla's house, I'm staying one more night, then...if you don't mind. I'm gonna get my things and stay with you, as arranged." Tails said.

"No problem." said Rouge. "Should I escort you over there?"

"Don't you have a bar to run? Surely it opens again soon." Tails wondered.

"There are more important things than a nightclub." Rouge answered. "Let's get going, my clients can wait."

"Oh okay." And so the pair left and Tails waited as Rouge locked up.

Rouge locked up shop and posted the "closed" sign on the door, then approached Tails' side. "Well, let's get you home, so to speak." she said and the two began their walk. "And let me know if you need me to carry you."

"I'm not that much of a burden." Tails retorted, though she wasn't angry and didn't sound it either.

"I don't want you overexerting yourself, that's all."

As they walked, about half the journey, Tails place a hand on her lower belly. "Apparently, it's about the size of a grape now..." She spoke, out of the blue.

"Do your nipples feel tender?" asked Rouge.

Tails blushed slightly. "A bit...why?"

"It's a sign that you're beginning to lactate."

"Oh, lovely..." Tails said, sarcastically.

"Relax... we'll worry about that when it happens. And if anyone asks you about it, tell them that it's a side effect of the pill."

"I guess...hopefully everyone will know by then though." Tails said. "And don't...freak out."

"A back-up plan. See, the drinks helped you after all."

"Well, I'm near enough 2 weeks along, meaning 1 and a 1/2 weeks time, I won't be able to hide anything easily..." Tails said. "I only have that time left."

"Oh."

Tails decided to get sly. "Soooo...I heard a certain rumour that Shadow tried it off with you."

"Tried what?"

"Hm, let's see how was it put again..?" Tails thought to herself. "Apparently, he's trying to get hitched with you. According to Sonic, anyway."

"And he finally got convince to sleep with Amy."

Tails fell over and looked at Rouge. "What?"

"You can't keep falling over like that." said Rouge and helped Tails up.

"Sonic slept with Amy..?" Tails seemed disturbed by the information.

"Not in this lifetime."

"I gotta stop doing that." Tails said. "Remember to slap me the next time I think Sonic would ever go for Amy."

"I think Amy should just try for a blowjob."

"Okay, I'd like to talk about something else now." Tails said, and continued walking.

"How are things with you and Cream coming along?"

"Not that great. Every time I think things are back to normal, something happens and she runs away." Tails replied.

"I guess you're gonna have to settle this soon, huh?"

"No point." Tails said. "The moment I 'settle' anything will be ruined when this whole baby thing comes up."

"Then tell her you're pregnant."

"I keep losing my nerve. I don't want bad reactions..." Tails replied.

"And what did you experience when I found out?"

"You're not Cream." Tails replied.

"Neither are you."

"Touché..."

"I don't mind you leaving everyone in the dark, but having her mother know and not her won't help you two mend." and Rouge sighed.

"Listen, you can either be ashamed about telling people you're pregnant, or you can be proud to tell people you're pregnant. And until you finally come to terms with proud pregnancy, even if you don't want to, you'll never have a peaceful state of mind. And besides, she isn't going to hate you for being how you are now."

Tails stopped walking, stood outside Cream and Vanilla's place.  
"How can I be proud of this though?" She asked, lowering her head.

"You can start by holding your head up." answered Rouge as she pats Tails on the back. "Trust me, Cream and her mom are going to be the most vital supporters you will have. And if you can't find closure with them, you won't be able to close things with the rest of your inner circle."

Tails lifts her head. "I guess...I'll think about my approach tonight then."

The two walk up to the door and Rouge knocks. Blaze is the one to answer the door. "Don't you have a club to run?" asked Blaze.  
"Tails is more important than my club." Rouge answered.  
"Point taken."  
"Anyway..." and Rouge turned to Tails, "let me know when you're ready to stay with me."

"I will do." Tails replied. "Thanks Rouge. You've been a great help."

"No problem, we're sisters now." said Rouge. "Be gentle with her, she's been crying for a while, Blaze." and off Rouge ran.

"I'd ask why, but I don't want to pry. Come on in." Blaze said, letting Tails in the house. And Tails entered the house to be greeted by Vanilla.  
"Did Cream come home?" Tails asked.

"She's in her room looking out the window." Vanilla answered. "Go ahead and keep her company."

"Yeah...Okay, I'll do that." Tails nodded, and headed toward Creams room. She knocked on the door. "Cream? Can I come in?" She asked.

"Come on." Cream answered, her expression still sad.

So Tails entered the room and was about to close the door when Vanilla appeared. "Girls, I'm going to cook up some supper, okay?"  
"Okay." Tails replied. And Vanilla left them to it. Tails closed the door and walked over to the bed, taking a seat. "Are you okay?"

"No I'm not." Cream answered.

"Talk to me about it." Tails said. "Please?"

"I messed up today... Because of my impatience, I made you overexert yourself. And the fact that Tikal got shot with paint didn't make things better."

"Somehow, I have a feeling the whole thing was staged. And it wasn't your fault she got shot. As for me...I don't mind, I was worried about you." Tails replied. "And there's no point in...lingering over.....it..." Tails dragged toward the end, slowly realising what a hypocrite she is.

"I've also been thinking about today. You going to the hospital, talking about being fat, trips to the bathroom, I just wish I knew what was going on..."

"Slowly you're just piecing it all together....just because I don't have the courage to tell you..." Tails lowered her head. "Well, either way, everyone's going to know soon enough anyway, so I might as well just...swallow my pride and tell you..."

"You're wh-"  
"Tails, Dr. Quack is on the phone." Blaze cut in. "He said that you didn't pick up your prescriptions."

"Crud...I knew I forgot something." Tails face palmed. "Can you...please just leave us a moment?" Tails asked Blaze. "Tell him I'll be there in a moment."

"Go on, I can wait." said Cream.

"But, what if I lose my nerve?" Tails asked.

"Then tell me now."

Tails paused for a moment; she was already losing her nerve. _What will she think...how will she handle this?_ "I'll tell you in a moment, just let me talk to my doctor..." And Tails left the room and went to talk to Dr Quack on the phone.

She took the phone and brought it to her ear. "Hello?"

"You forgot your prescriptions, young lady." said Dr. Quack.

"I'm sorry...we had a few...situations." Tails replied. "Shall I come and get them now?"

"Not by yourself."

"I'll ask Blaze to come with me." Tails replied.

"I see. Well, come whenever you can." and Tails heard the call disconnect.

Tails then put the phone down on the receiver and sighed. _Back to my fate, I guess..._ She walked on back to Cream's room.

"Is everything okay?" Cream asked. "You aren't hurt, are you?"

"No...I need to pick up my prescriptions." Tails said. "You see, the medication is for my...insides. Help me heal and all that."

"Oh... So you were gonna tell me what is going on."

Tails walked over to Cream and held her hand out, balling a fist except for her pinkie finger, she held it to Cream. "Pinkie promise me...that you won't hate me or completely freak out...please?"

"Trust me, it can't be worse than my finding out you're a girl. So unless you're dying, nothing can be worse than telling me you're a girl."

Tails withdrew her hand and tried to calm herself a little and it was a good 40 seconds of silence before she finally spoke. "....I'm pregnant..."

"Pregnant?"

"Yes...Pregnant." Tails said. "I'm having a baby..." Cream wanted to comment on this, but she fainted instead.

Tails made sure to catch her first before she fell and rested her on her bed. "Oh dear...I expected something but she took this like I did..." She said.

Blaze walks into the room. "Tails are you--What the hell happened to Cream?"

"I dealt her a horrid mental blow..." Tails replied.

"Well, bring her along with us. Vanilla and Marine have decided to come along." Blaze assured Tails.

"Um, Blaze...could you pick her up instead of me? I was told not to overexert myself." Tails asked.

"Sure." and Blaze went over to Cream.  
"Hey, we're gonna eat after we get Tails happy drugs." said Marine. "What's up with Cream?"  
"It appears that she fainted." Blaze answered.

_Should I tell them whilst they are here?_ Tails thought. _Cream fainted, only delaying what possible reaction that will come. _She looked at the girls.

The girls left the room and went into the elevator. "I wonder what we're gonna eat." said Marine.  
Vanilla was holding Cream. "Hopefully something nice. I'm tired of pizza." said Blaze.  
Cream finally came around. "Tails... I'm so sorry." she said. "I didn't know you were pregnant."

And a shiver ran down Tails spine. _I knew this'd happen... _She thought.

The elevator soon stopped and opened up. Blaze's hands were fully flamed as she ran out of the elevator. And Cream was helping Marine to her feet as she had fainted from the news. "No one tells Amy." said Vanilla.  
"How are you not shocked by this?!" shouted Cream.  
"I was the first one to guess this."

"Blaze completely wigged out..." Tails said. "And Marine's completely out of it also..." She began to cry silently. "Telling Sonic will be the hardest of all. I don't know how I'm going to be able to handle all this."

"You have us to help you handle it." Cream assured Tails.

Tails fell to her knees and cried, Vanilla and Cream trying their best to console her.

Meanwhile, Blaze was still on a mad dash, trying to take in the news. However, all of a sudden someone grabbed her arm and halted her completely before throwing her onto her ass.  
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you just saw a ghost." Said the voice of a familiar dark hedgehog.

"I'm sorry, I had a big shock okay?" Blaze replied, standing up.  
"Do you mind cooling off? Isn't it your current duty to look after Tails? I highly doubt Cream, Vanilla and that raccoon are going to halt an assault from the doctor."  
"If it's my duty, why are you still overseeing, huh?"  
"If I didn't, would you have gone back anytime soon?" No reply from the lavender cat. "I thought not. Do what you want, I'll be sure to watch her from a distance, since you're just as incompetent as that blue hedgehog." And Shadow walked passed Blaze.  
"Don't you dare say anything about Sonic! He's a better hedgehog and hero than you'll ever be!" Blaze barked at him.  
"Hah! I don't want to be a hero. And If he's so much better than me..." And Shadow turned his head with a sly grin, his usual cockiness showing. "Then where is he now? Looking after the one who needs him the most? Or moping in a corner somewhere? Some hero he turned out to be." And Shadow walked on, leaving the Cat speechless, but angry.

Back with the girls, Tails finally cooled down and Marine was rested on a bench.  
"I'm sorry, I'm just so emotional these days." Tails apologized.

"Mood swings." Cream and Vanilla said.

"Don't they usually rotate around Anger, Sadness, over happiness and all sorts of others? All I've had is misery and fake happiness..." Tails replied.

"It's not your fault." said Vanilla.

"I hope Blaze doesn't turn out to be a big mouth."

"We better get going." said Vanilla.

"Shall we try to wake Marine first?" Tails asked.

'I'll just carry her." Cream answered.  
"Krickey... that was a weird happening." said Marine. "Tails, you really dropped a bomb on me, luv."

"Um...no...Cream dropped it...I was gonna give it to you later." Tails replied, coyly.

"So, where did Blaze run off too?"  
"Right here." and Blaze shows up on cue. "Well, I had to check my temper, but I'm fine now. Tails, I hope you don't hate me for my actions as of late."

"Actually, I was worried I'd be hated..." Tails replied. "But, despite the feinting or running off, everyone's been very good about this whole thing. I don't hate you though."

"Well, I just have to understand that you're a girl now... and have to go through all the female priorities."

"In all fairness, I don't really understand myself, It's been nearly 2 weeks, and I still haven't gotten used to the fact than I'm....that I'm..." Tails then just changed subject. "Can we just go get my medication please?"

From atop a roof stood Shadow, arms folded looking down on the 5. _Prove to me. Show me that you're not worthless. Meanwhile, I'm going to have another word with this so called 'hero'._ And Shadow walked off.

The girls made it to the Pharmacy and Tails went to the counter to get her meds. After picking up her meds, Tails walked back to the girls and they left the pharmacy. "So, did you decide on our food?" Tails asked.

"Let's have Steak and salad." Vanilla answered.

"Do you think I'll be able to stomach it?" Tails stretched. "Never mind, might as well try. I'm for it."

"And there's always salad if you can't." said Marine.

"True. Well, let's go eat." So the girls went to find the restaurant.

After they got something to eat and had medial chatter about this and that and generally had a good time. They returned to Vanilla's place for a well earned rest.

About 1am in the morning, Tails was still awake, sat in the dark looking at the roof.  
"The reactions today were too much and they don't even end yet..." She said to herself. "There's no way I can even imagine how bad Sonic will react..."

Tails got out of bed and wiped her face. She stood up and put on some of her warmest clothing, slipped her shoes on and carefully walked out of her room. Marine was sleeping on the couch and it appeared as though Blaze had fallen asleep in the window. Tails quietly walked into the living room and saw the spare key to the house. She took it and walked to the door. _A little fresh air won't hurt..._ And Tails left the house quietly.

She walked to the elevator and pushed the button for it, it wasn't long before she was in, out and then left the building. She walked for a while, not knowing where she was going, but she just kept walking.

It wasn't long before she found herself sat on a park bench, listening to the noises of the night. _How am I going to tell Sonic...how? How will he take it? What will I do if he can't handle this either, he's avoiding me as it is. I wish I knew what to tell him. Someone please give me a sign or something..._

It wasn't too long after her train of thoughts, she heard people. _I guess I should get back to the place before I'm..._ Then the people came into veiw.  
"99 bottles of bear on the wall...99 bottles of beer!" They sang. _It's Knuckles and the Chaotix._ She slouched over and fell on Tails slightly, but not enough that'd knock her over, but leaning on her drunkenly.  
"Hey there foxy lady, how'd you like to..*hic*..come to our place and we can party!" He said in a very drunken voice. Tails had to hold her nose from his drink breath.  
"No thanks, Vector. I'm not into that kind of fun."  
"How do you know my...*hic* name, foxy?"  
"That's right, you don't recognise me when you're off your head..."  
"Hey, Tails." Knuckles said. "Don't worry, I'm relatively sober, tipsy though." Knuckles walked over and got Vector off of Tails. "Hey man, back off, she's too young for you."  
"Aww, I thought I was gonna see some action.." Vector moaned, then fell on his ass.  
"Vector, you shouldn't drink so much." Tails said.

"I'll get as want as I drunka be." Vector drunkenly commented.

"So, Tails. What are you doing out here?" Knuckles asked.  
"Just getting some air." Tails replied. "I'm going through a lot and needed to think."  
"Hey, Knuxy, how do ya know this sex bomb?" Vector asked. "I thought you wanted to...*hic*..fuck the bat girl."  
"What?! I never said such a thing!" Knuckles barked. Tails started to giggle.  
"But you were talking about how you stuffed your 'sacred guardian rod' in her 'jewel sack' just 5 minutes ago." Now Tails was laughing.  
"Shut up you idiot!" Knuckles yelled.  
"So it's true?" Tails asked.  
"N-.." Knuckles was going to say no, but Vector spoke first.  
"He was talking about how she cooed at all his awesome motions. How the 'great guardian of the Master Emerald made her weak.'" Now Tails was nearly wetting herself laughing.  
"Okay, that does it!" And Knuckles leaped on Vector and began to beat him up. Tails stepped back and watched them scrap.

It appeared this wasn't going to end soon, so Tails took her leave.

When she got back to Vanilla's place, she took the key and carefully turned it, entering the door and closing it quietly. She walked into the living room and put the key back before returning to her room. She opened the door and quietly entered and closed it. She turned to her bed and there Cream was.  
"Huh? Cream?" Cream turned around to look at Tails.  
"Hi...Tails...where were you?" She asked, Tails saw the tears on her face.  
"I just...went for a walk. Why are you crying?"  
"I had a bad dream..." Cream cried. "I dreamt that you expanded and exploded and I couldn't do anything, then I came to see you and you were gone.." She then cried aloud and Tails quickly went over to her and hugged her, petting her head.  
"There, there, Cream. I'm still here, see? Don't cry okay?"  
"I thought you were gone! I was so sad and scared, please don't leave me, please..."

"I won't leave, Cream. Not permanently anyway."  
"I don't want you to be gone." Cream cried.  
"Please don't cry anymore, okay, Cream?"

It took a few more minutes for Cream to calm down.  
"Feeling better now?" Tails asked, the two were sat on the bed, backs against the wall.

"Where did you go?" Cream asked.  
"I just went to the nearby park to think. I didn't go far." Tails said. "I needed some air and time to think. I bumped into Knuckles and Vector, Espio too, but he didn't say anything. Vector on the other hand spilt a looot of Knuckles big secrets." Tails chuckled.

"Like what?"

"Like his massive crush on Rouge, and how he molests her quite severely in his imagination." Tails replied. "Or as Vector put it... 'stuffed his 'sacred guardian rod' in her 'jewel sack' and how the 'great guardian of the Master Emerald made her weak.' I found it quite amusing with his drunken words." Tails explained.

Cream giggled. "Drunken fools don't lie." she said.

"Tipsy ones do though, Knuckles was sober enough to deny at least." Tails said. "Are you feeling better now? I'm not combusted and I am still here with you now."

"A little."

"That's good." Tails gave Cream a friendly and comforting hug. "No more crying, okay?"

"I'll try."

Tails let Cream go. "You ready to try and go back to bed now? Or do you want to stay here now?"

"What I want.... you probably can't give me."

"What?" Tails asked, taken aback.

"I want...."

Tails listens intently. "You want?"

"I... want... just don't leave me." and Cream went back into crying.

"Oh, Cream..." And Tails pulled the young doe into a hug. "I won't leave, okay?" _I guess I have to cancel going to Rouge's..._ She thought. She stroked Creams head softly. Tails tried to gently rock the rabbit to help sooth her. _I don't like seeing Cream like this...It upsets me too..._

"I... can't take it anymore...." Cream was practically losing her wits.

"What can't you take?" Tails asked, continuing to sooth the poor rabbit.

"Us... like this.... I can't do it." Cream was very distraught.  
"Then tell me how I can help you." said Tails.  
"I.... I...."  
"I won't know if you don't tell me."

"I...."  
"If I can tell you I'm pregnant, you can tell me what you need of me."  
"I want...." Cream was at the verge of losing it. "I want to wake up from this nightmare... but, it's real."  
"Cream..."  
"Tails... I want you to help me."  
"Tell me how I can help you."  
"Just... just hold me."

"I can hold you, Cream."  
"Please, hold me."  
Tails brought Cream close to her, but not too close to her chest. "Tell me what you'd like from me."

"For starters... how about head?"

"Wait, what?" Tails was shocked.  
"Head.... give me head." Cream answered. "We can start there and work on things from that point."  
"Well... okay, I guess."  
"I knew you wouldn't do it."  
"No, no, I'll do it. But do you want to sit on the edge, or what?"  
"...I'll lay back on the bed."

With that said, Cream lay back in bed and waited for Tails.


	7. Chapter 7

Okay people. Before you begin reading this chapter, we the authors have to press a specific matter to all of you. Despite the interesting comical moments this story has had up to this point, we will now remind you of this story's rating. Remember that this story doesn't have this rating because of a certain fox's misfortune and a bit of "sour tongue" every now and again, but there will come instances later on in this story along the lines of what you are about to read. So if there are any of you that are squeemish about what this chapter is about to offer you, feel free to skip ahead. Just don't go whining about this portion being lewd. We would also like to point out that NO, This chapter does not mean that Cream and Tails are the official coupling of the story. We can promise you there will be other instances like this with other characters and the final couple has not been set in stone. I won't tell you who those characters are, but I will mention that at least 1 more instance like this is due.

Oh and Merry Christmas. I do apologise if this isn't a good enough chapter, however, by the end of the day, Chapter 8 shall be proofread and posted, so the 'Christmas present' isn't over yet okay? The end of the day applies to UK Time. Sorry for those who are hours ahead of me.

With that said, it's time to DAMN THE TORPEDOES!

Tails saw Cream lying on the bed, her legs together and her body was as relaxed as she wanted to be. Yet the young doe was still uncomfortable. Tails positioned herself on the bed near Cream's ankles... she was slightly nervous, but knew that word is bond. _Well, I guess I better get started._ She thought.

"You're scared, aren't you?" asked Cream.

"Let's just say I wasn't expecting you to request something like this."

"I knew you didn't want to do it."

"Cream, I said that I would... just give me a minute."

"You **do** know how girls get head, right?"

"I remember seeing it from one of Knuckles' pornos that I was forced to watch with the guys."

"Knuckles has porn?"

"What guy doesn't have porn?"

"You didn't.... when you were a guy, I mean."

Tails' hands ran up the sides of Cream's thighs and under her nightgown. The fox swallowed, then pulled Cream's panties down her legs and eventually off of her, then noticed the print on them. Both of them blushed. "What, there aren't any stains if that's what you're looking for." said Cream.

Tails nearly fell off the bed. "No, I was looking at the design." she responded. "These tidy whities of yours have my trademark signet on them."

"Well, I feel for you." Creams blush deepened.

"So why wear them now?"

"I was hoping to wear them on the night you give me your fox rod and made me a woman... but since that's no longer the case, I might as well wear them to support you."

Hearing this made Tails fight back tears. _Man, why do I have to have a mood swing now?_ She pondered, though it wasn't really a mood swing.

"I had these custom made... just to let you know about my private feeling for you." Cream continued. "Well, it's the main reason I remind myself on just how much you mean to me... even if you are a girl now."

"I see." Tails said, and then placed her hands on Cream's knees.

"Well, everything from here is on you." and Cream exhaled.

Tails then finally had a clear look at Cream's womanhood. _Here is Cream's vulva._ Thought the fox. _She looks so healthy down here... I can only imagine what mine will be like after I give birth. But enough about me, this is all for Cream._ The fox gently blew on Cream, causing her to twitch slightly. _She's sensitive.... And thus begins my mending of Miles Prower's Inner Circle. Chapter One, Cream's labo..._

"I don't mind you admiring me, but not so much." said Cream. "I'm already embarrassed as it is and I'm starting to feel uncomfortable."

"Right, sorry about that." said Tails. "I'm no longer under your hypnosis."

"That was corny."

"You aren't the only one that's nervous, Cream."

With this said, Tails "dove" in. Her tongue lapped at Cream's folds making her shudder in the process. _This really feels weird._ Cream thought as she felt Tails' tongue swirl around her outer folds. _It's almost squishy..._

_It's just my tongue and Cream is already quiefing._ Tails thought as she gave head. _Oh well, I better do more than this._ She parted Cream a bit more and stuck her tongue inside, bringing a coo from the doe.

_Holy..._ Cream thought and placed her right hand on the back of Tails' head.

Tails was taken completely off guard by this. _I guess she wants more... Then more is what she'll get._

Despite having her insides being rubbed by Tails' tongue, Cream kept Tails' head in place and kept herself from making any sudden out bursts to alert the other three people in the house. Despite her valiant efforts to hold out as much as possible, Cream's lower body started shaking uncontrollably. _No, not now... I didn't even last three minutes yet._ She mentally whined.

_I hope she doesn't piss in my face._ Thought Tails.

_I'm sorry, but I can't.... anymore...._ and for the first time in her life, Cream got off from the two-tailed fox she'd been pursuing. Her body spasmed and twitched as she left her mark on the fox's face, then let her head go as she panted on the bed.

Tails removed her face from Cream's crotch and saw her panting where her body lay. "You sure had a lot of pent up frustration." she said.

"I'm still frustrated." Cream told her. "Wash your face and rinse your mouth out, I want a bit more from you."

It took Tails two minutes to do that, then she rejoined Cream in her bed and the two began kissing each other. It wasn't the first time that Tails felt Cream's kiss in the lips... well, sort of. This was their first kiss as two girls and neither of them cared. For once, Tails and Cream had their unintruded moment together. Sure, both of them were girls and neither thought of being homosexual, but gender didn't apply this time. Despite the two of them having their moment, Vanilla managed to watch through the keyhole. She soon gave a sigh of relief and walked into the living room. _Honestly, those two need that right about now._ She thought.

"You know, the television programs here are bonzor interesting." said Marine.

"Somewhat, but their infomercials are boring." said Blaze.

"All right you two, let's get going." said Vanilla.

"But where are we going?" asked Marine.

"Twinkle Park."

"What is Twinkle Park?" asked Blaze.

"Something fun."

"Is Twinkle park even open at this time of night?" asked Marine.

"And what about Cream and Tails?" asked Blaze.

"Out, now." said Vanilla and managed to get the cat and raccoon out of the house.

Back in the room, Cream managed to pull Tails on top of her while they continued kissing. _What's sad is that I want more from Tails, but I can't have it._ Cream thought. _And now that I know what is going on with Tails, would sex be accepted? Can we still enjoy the physical pleasures that a couple is meant to enjoy? Would it be wrong to elope with her?_

_Now If I were a guy, Cream would probably be letting me have my way with her._ Thought Tails. _In a way, I think it's best that Cream knows I'm a girl. If we would've had sex and then I told her about being a girl, she would probably feel betrayed and devastated._

Cream broke their kiss. "Don't be scared, Tails." she said. "Enjoy me."

"I... I can't really do that." said Tails.

"You can still use your hands, right? Well, use them."

"Cream, let's just stick to second base."

"At least try to steal third."

"What all do you want me to do?"

"Run your hands all over me...."

"Maybe next time, I don't want to tease you."

"Fine. But you have to break me off again..."

"Deal."

After a while, Vanilla opened the door to the house and went inside. Blaze and Marine soon followed and went back on the couch. "So, what about our 'angsty duo' in the back room?" asked Blaze.

"They're fine." Vanilla answered. "It's my watch tonight, so get some sleep."

"You know I can't do that."

"You know you have no choice this time."

"Fine, but wake me up if any problems occur."

"Will do."

And Blaze went in to retire for the night.

*

Morning came along and Tails finally woke up. _What a night..._ she thought.

"You're awake." Tails turned to see Cream sitting at her vanity table. "Did you sleep well?"

"Somewhat." Tails answered.

"That's good to know." Cream sat next to Tails on her bed. "I really needed that last night, Tails."

"I think we both needed that." and Tails giggled. She then turned to Cream. "Is my hair messed up?"

"No. This is just the first time I've seen you smile since you know what. I would like you to be happy more often."

"I... I understand."

"I also learned something last night, something that I don't really want to address. However, I will right now."

"Um... o-kay."

"It's time for you to go now, Tails."

Another blow to the fox from the rabbit. "What the hell..."

"Don't take it like that. I just learned that you can't stay here for your entire term... And as much as I want you to be here for all of it, you can't be here any longer."

"What about us?"

"We always have each other and I will obviously come and visit you. But if you stay here any longer, Eggman won't have to second guess your location."

Tails felt a bit sad, but she nods anyway. "That's true... Plus, you guys need your rest without having to worry about me. I've seen the look on Blaze's face in the morning after an all-nighter; princesses shouldn't have to sacrifice sleep for other things."

Tails left Cream's room and walked into the kitchen. "I didn't expect you to be up by now." Tails looked to see Vanilla.

"Were you up all night?" asked Tails.

"I was. Blaze needs a full night's sleep too, y'know."

"So how can you keep guard if Blaze and everyone is asleep?"

"The same way you manage to keep your breasts hidden, it's a secret."

"Touché."

"Speaking of breasts..."

"A bit sensitive, but otherwise fine. Rouge said it's a sign of my body wanting to lactate."

"No, I think you should look at your chest."

Tails looked at her chest and saw oddly matted portions of her white fur with crystalline residue. "Great, this must've happened last night." and begins to wipe her chest.

"You might want to start taking cold showers for a while."

"But I like my showers warm."

"If warm water stimulates blood flow, just think about what it might do to your mamma."

"Oh yeah."

Vanilla handed Tails a washcloth. "I remember that I started lactating ten days into my pregnancy with Cream, I had to wear more than one kind of shirt and I always leaked through my bras."

Tails' ears drooped. "That's nice to hear..."

"And judging by the way your milk crystallized, you're not using a bra and you're smothering yourself."

"Is there anything you don't know?"

"When you're due."

"You'll learn about that later."

"That's fine. Now go and wash up, I'll make breakfast."

"Thanks, Vanilla. You're the closest thing to a mom that I have right now."

"No problem, sweetie. Just let me know when you have any other confusing 'chest issues' and you will have them."

"Right."

Tails ended up taking a cold shower that morning, which didn't really help her chest and carefully dried off. Once she was ready for the morning, the five females gathered around the table for breakfast. With that done, Tails asked Blaze to escort her off to the next "rest area" amongst her friends. Tails made sure to grab her prescriptions, and hugs from Cream and Marine, then a kiss on the nose from Vanilla before walking off with Blaze. The moment was warm, but also needed as she and Blaze head towards more inner circle.


	8. Chapter 8

Just a quick warning, some Silver bashing in this chapter, don't throw a fuss, cause i'm not interested if it offends you, so please keep negative comments to yourselves.

Blaze takes Tails to Club Rouge where the fox is welcome with open arms. "Nice to see you again, fox girl." said Rouge.

"Likewise. I was thinking to myself on my way over here...'Does Rouge live in her club? If not, what does her house look like?' Cause I don't think I've ever seen your house." Tails replied.

"My actual residence is confidential, but I do have three rooms here. The spare room should be to your liking."

"Okay." Tails said. "I got a question. You're not going to put me to work, are you?"

"Not unless you want to... granted that you can."

"That depends on if that involves overworking me, as you know I should be taking it easy."

"Well what do you think I do in this place during hours?"

"I honestly don't know." Tails shrugged.  
"Am I needed anymore or can I leave you girls to it?" Blaze questioned.

"Stick around for a while, sister." Rouge answered Blaze. "Cream and them can hold their own for a while without you. Besides, you need to lighten up a little yourself." Blaze doesn't reply.  
"Oh Rouge, I wanted to discuss a certain echidna with you." Tails giggled.

"That reminds me, Tikal said she was gonna drop by later for drinks." said Rouge. "I think I'll let her try out a Rembo."

"I was talking about a certain red echidna who apparently thinks you're easy. At least that's the impression i got as Vector blurted out their 'private conversation.'" Tails replied. "But it's nice to know we'll be getting a visit from Tikal."

"You know, I haven't seen Lein-Da in quite some time. Maybe I should give her a call."

"I should probably get in contact with Aunt Sally and Bunny also, but that can wait." Tails said, she went and took a seat. "So, if I can, i'll help out around the place, even if it's simply cleaning. It's the least I can do since you're babysitting me."

"Speaking of babies, Shadow told me how you got 'all fired up' over the news, Blaze." Rouge said coyly. "Perhaps you should come back later for drinks to mellow out?"

"Well excuse me, the build up of Tails being a girl and now pregnant just got to me..." Blaze said.  
"I just dread to see Sonic's reaction..." Tails sighed.

"Shadow said you were ablaze on something." Rouge cleared up. "I told him that it was probably because she learned about Tails insides. I didn't mention your pregnancy to him... and I think I'll keep it that way. We've all seen Shadow go berserk... well, not Blaze, but the last thing we need is Shadow going postal."

"So, Shadow is also oblivious, huh?" Tails said. "That'll be a nuke and a half..."

"At least he loves you... well, he's giving you tough love, but love nonetheless."

Tails blushed slightly. "I seriously doubt he loves me at all. Likes maybe, but no love." She replied. "Can Shadow even love? He's been a hard nut to crack for anyone who tries since we met him, let alone someone who hasn't tried getting to him."

"He can, but doesn't want to."

"I wonder. I'll chat him up, see where I can get." Blaze said, out of the blue. This made Tails fall out her seat. She recovered quickly though.  
"Did you hit your head or something?" She asked.

"How many times have I told you that you can't keep falling like that?" Rouge said.

"The same amount as my doctor." Tails replied. "That's beside the point. I wanna know what got into Blaze."

"I guess she just wants to hit it off with Shadow." said Rouge. "I mean, it's not like she'll give that time-travelling homo Silver a chance."

"Silver and I are just friends, and that's all it will be. He's not really my type. I think he's asexual anyway." Blaze replied.

"That's not what this picture says." said Rouge.

Tails and Blaze look at the picture, which depicts Silver in a sexual act with Billy Hatcher. "Some psychic this guys is, he should've seen the event where he gives 'service' to rooster boy a mile away." Rouge clears up. "And there was a whole article on this in the Morning Land Tribune."

"Well, I'll be darned...that's disturbing." Blaze said.  
"You learn something new every day." Tails added.

"Rolly wasn't happy with seeing that in the paper, mind you." said Rouge.

"Hm...moving on, why would you want to chat up Shadow?" Tails asked.  
"You don't seduce quite like a cat can." Blaze replied slyly. "If there's a way to break into Shadow's shell, I reckon I can do it."

"Feline seduction... well, I'm gonna leave that one alone." and Rouge shrugged. "Now I wanna make a chicken joke of this incident between Silver and Billy, but I don't wanna make a cock look bad."

Tails chuckled. "So, when did Tikal say she'd get here?"

"She didn't, but it'll probably be later today. Now, let's have a mud slide."

"A what?" Tails and Blaze questioned simultaneously.

Rouge sighed. "Fine, I'll make us margaritas instead."

"No thanks." Tails replied.

"I'll have one." Blaze added.

Rouge made three margaritas anyway but gave Tails some ice water. "I can never get you to enjoy a virgin drink with us." said Rouge. "I'm glad Cream can take one with the girls every now and again."

"Even if I wasn't pregnant I wouldn't drink one." Tails said. "Now at least i have an excuse."

"There's no excuse to drink just the juice mix."

"I still don't want it." Tails stuck her tongue out playfully at Rouge.

"Well, let's just drink up anyway."

As the girls drank their respective drinks, the clanking footsteps of Omega can be heard.  
"INCOMING CALL FROM SHADOW. HE LEFT A MESSAGE FOR YOU." Omega said to Rouge.

"I wonder what's up now?" asked Rouge. Omega begins the playback feature.  
"Just for your information, be on the watch for mechanical fakers. They're hunting the emeralds and by what's left of Tails house, they are clearly after her too. Don't panic too much either, the workshop isn't too badly damaged, and that 'secret lab' I told you about is just fine, along with the crap that's in it. If you find any chaos emeralds, I want them as soon as you find them, understand? Oh, and tell Tails I was forced to take the one in her lab." And the message cut off.

"My house...." Tails said, but it came out in a sort of shocked whisper.

"Well, look like you won't be going home... or the Mystic Ruins anytime soon." said Rouge, then pats Tails on the back. "Luckily for us, you weren't in any danger."

"But...Lavender..." Tails sighed. "Oh well..."

"Wow, got a baby name already? Looks like you're ahead of the game."

"Kind of...Lavender is my computer AI, I programmed her to resemble my daughter, if I ever had one. But the colour scheme messed up and she turned out a sort of lavender colour, so I called her lavender. The Chaos emerald was her power source." Tails explained. "I can't believe my house is damaged."

Rouge smiled. "I guess you'll want this margarita now."

Tails took the drink, downed it, and about a second after shuddered. "It's somewhat strong..." she said.

"But it made me feel a little better."

"I guess I have my plans now."

"Huh?"

"Keep you here for a while and hunt foe jewels."

"Oh."

"STRANGELY COLLOURED FURRY CREATURE APPROACHES THE FACILITY. PREPARING FOR GREETING." And Omega changes his hand to his flamethrower, which was loaded with helium.

"I better make more drinks." said Rouge.

"You're going to let him blast whoever is coming?" Blaze questioned.

"Why not?"

"It's what I'd consider rude." Blaze replied.

"That was rhetorical, Blaze. Omega's just getting balloons ready."

And with that, Omega takes a balloon and carefully places it over the barrel of his flame thrower and walks to the door. He begins to fill it with helium and waits at the door.  
"Hey, thanks for the chat today Tikal. I really needed it." Said the voice of our favourite blue blur.  
"No problem, just...don't ignore Tails forever, okay? She's got it pretty rough and you avoiding her isn't helping." Tikal replied. The voices were feint, but still heard pretty clearly as they approached.  
"I know, I just...every time I see her I get so mad..." Sonic replied, his voice not getting louder, so they'd clearly stopped walking. "I get mad because it was a situation I simply couldn't prevent and Tails is suffering because of it. And I'm mad at Eggman, but mainly myself, because I wasn't fast enough."  
"Beat yourself up all you want, Sonic. But do it quickly, because you're not helping anything." Tikal replied.  
"Well, see ya later." And Sonic boomed off. As Tikal entered the room, the helium balloon burst.  
"AAAHH!" Tikal screamed as she fell into the nearby tables and chairs, making a lot of noise.

"Ooooww...my bum..." Tikal moaned.  
"MISSION COMPLETE. PROCEEDING TO RECHARGE." And Omega left for the back rooms. Tikal gets up and dusts herself off, looking at Rouge.  
"Are we still friends, Rouge? Or is this little dress feud going to make us strangers, because I really didn't deserve that." She moaned at the bat.

Tikal sighed. "Nevermind...The robot probably did it of his own will."  
"Moving on, how are you, Tikal?" Tails asked.  
"Stressed..."

"Why are you stressed?" asked Rouge.

"I council waaay too many people. And it's stressful." Tikal replied.

"That's what happens when you make stuff like that personal."

"I'm not making it personal. I'm just trying to help where i can, but it seems people now believe they need to rely on me."

"Interesting."

"Anyway, Rouge. I took that dress you ripped and altered it for you, it should fit your bust a lot more comfortably now and you didn't waste a penny, in fact, you **should** look better in it." Tikal said, placing a bag on the bar counter for her.

"Really now, I'll have to see for myself." said Rouge.

"Go ahead, I spent a lot of time on it." Tikal said.  
"You went through a lot of trouble." Blaze said.  
"I felt guilty for laughing." Tikal replied. _And here we go._ thought Rouge.

"I see." Blaze said.  
"Let's not open old wounds, eh?" Tails said.  
"Fine by me." Blaze shrugged. Tikal walked over.  
"So how are you feeling, Tails?" She asked.  
"So-so." Tails replied. "I'm not sure what I feel."

"Oh, did you eat something bad?"  
"No, I've just been going through some weird times."

"Haven't we all?" asked Rouge.

"Exactly....I wanna go rest for a moment. Where's this room you mentioned?" Tails asked Rouge.

"Head on into the back to the stairs. You'll see it." Rouge answered.

"Thanks." And Tails stood and headed into the back, seeking her room where she'd be staying for who knows how long. After finding it, she walked in and had a look around. "This place? Hope I am in the right area." After looking around, Tails took the nearby seat. _I don't know what I feel right now..._ She thought.

Back with the other girls.  
"So, anything exciting happen?" Tikal asked.

"Nope." Rouge answered.

"Oh." Tikal replied. "Espio tried to seduce me the other night, it was amusing."

"Hmm..."

Shadow walked over to the now destroyed Mech-Sonic Version 2 and yanked the red Chaos Emerald from it's chest.  
"Just keep feeding me Chaos Emeralds, Doctor. You're making this far too easy." He said.  
"That the last of them?" Knuckles asked, as he and Sonic walked up.  
"Yes, and was their ringleader, held this." Shadow said, showing the Chaos Emerald.  
"Hm, So Eggman really means business this time." Sonic said.  
"Seems so, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to check on Tails." And Shadow walked past the two.  
"No offence or anything Shadow. But why do you care so much all of a sudden?" Sonic questioned. Shadow stopped walking.  
"I can ask you why you don't care enough." He replied

"I do care... I just feel responsible."

"Bah." Shadow replied. "You clearly don't care enough if you're still crying over that. It's over, we can't change it. So move on and do the right thing, instead of moping over it."

"And what in your mind is the right thing?"

Shadow looked over his shoulder. "You remember the ARK incident, don't you? When I was out to take revenge on the human race for what they did to Maria when I believed that's what she wanted?"

"I remember you not wanting me to mention Maria."

"I said don't bring her into this. But that's not the point. Ask Tails what she wants. And then you'll know what the right thing is. And this whole avoiding her out of guilt...Is it really guilt? Or selfishness because you can't accept what she has to?"

"Tails was inseminated, Shadow."

"And? Do I look like I'm crying a river about it? Tails is allowed to, you on the other hand have to help her through it. And you haven't, have you? You've avoided her as if she were Amy." Shadow barked at Sonic.

Sonic sighed. "I'll forgive you for not knowing about this process. But there's a lot more to this than just Tails being raped."

Shadow chuckled cockily. "Is that so? Why don't you tell me something I don't know then?"

"When Dr. Quack said that Tails was inseminated, I bolted. I bolted because I wanted to find out some answers, but none came. Then I remember how the girls were talking about what they would become and about the rape."

"Finally figuring it out, huh Sonic?" Shadow asked.

"Not exactly, but I'm reminded of something I saw in an anime called SEEDS."

"Go on." Shadow said.

"The purpose of SEEDS was to spread new life and..." Sonic caught himself at those words and his expression truly turned to panic. "Oh god.... it's even worse than I thought. Tails is.... is.... I gotta bolt." and off Sonic ran.

_Looks like he figured it out. _Shadow thought._ Took him long enough.  
_"What just happened?" Knuckles asked.  
"Don't worry about it. Let Sonic to his business, meanwhile, let's find the last two emeralds." Shadow replied, the two then walked on.

Sonic just ran, unsure of where he was going, but he ran. _No wonder Tails was so dreadful..._ he thought. _I better clear my head with this issue before I see Vanilla._

Cream was in her room looking out her window at the night sky. She gave a longing sigh as the stars reflected in her eyes. _I'm being selfish._ She thought. _There's so much from Tails that I want right now and it's killing me knowing that I can't have it._

_And to make matters worse, it seems that I'm only doing more harm to her than help. What am I going to do with myself..._ Cream gave another longing sigh. _Mom said that there are moments that we wish could be repeated... and as much as I want a time machine to try and change this... I can't._

_Knowing that Tails got pregnant only makes things worse... Sure she's only two weeks and has a baby that can't be bigger than a bottle cap, but I still wish it was me instead of her._ Cream then looked at her belly. _Well, if it was me, I would really be big by now. I honestly had a dream where Tails and I were expecting and I was pregnant... Oh, I'm so selfish.... I'm never selfish, so why must I be selfish now?_

_  
_"Cream! Open up, it's Marine."  
Cream's train of thought was broken. "Come on in." she said.  
Marine entered the room and sat next to Cream. "You look like hell, luv." she said. "Are you really gonna take this to heart? Doing so really won't help you."  
"Tell me something I don't know." said Cream.  
"Well, I have a theory to tell."  
"Start spilling, I need a subject changer right about now."

Marine cleared her throat. "Orright, this is what I believe. Based on what Amy and Rouge have been talkin' about, the whole purpose is 'what you will become'... rather, what Tails will become."  
"Go on." said Cream.  
"Eggman's Chimera thingy, whatever the hell it is, probably has to do with Tails' raping."  
"That's not something I don't know." Cream was a bit upset. "That was a given point by everyone else."  
"Blah, blah, blah. My theory is about when we'll see that arse Eggman again."  
"Really?"  
"Actually, I know when we'll see the shite hit the fan."

Cream's look turned into an interested one. "Okay, now you have my attention."  
And not just Cream's, Vanilla was listening on the other side of the door.

"Normally, we would've seen or heard something about that arse, but it's been quiet as of late... a little too quiet."  
"You're right... it has been peaceful lately."

"But it appears that this silence has to do with Tails' baby. In fact, I bet we'll see him again when Tails is ready to pop."  
"Hmm..."  
"Tails isn't the target, luv. Tails' baby is what he's after, our fox only has a minor role in all this."

"So...Eggman is going to appear when Tails has had her baby?" Cream asked.

"It fits. Why else haven't we seen or heard of any of that doctor's shite?"

"I see..." Cream said. "So...should we tell the others? Like Sonic or someone?"

"So you like my theory?"

"No, it makes me worry now. But it's a good theory in knowing when to expect an attack. And it makes sense."

"Exactly what I was thinking." and Vanilla walks in on the girls. "Marine, this theory is plausible enough for alarm." Vanilla noted.  
"Glad you like it." said a happy Marine.  
"We might want to keep this in mind since it isn't certain yet." advised Vanilla.

"So what do we do?" Cream asked. As she finishes, 3 knocks are heard at the door.

Vanilla walks out of the room and heads to the door, opening it to our carefree pink hedgehog.  
"Oh, hello Amy." Vanilla said.  
"Hello, Vanilla. Can I come in?" Amy asked.  
"Certainly." And Vanilla let Amy in. Amy walked into the living room, where Cream and Marine walked out. "Is Tails here?" She asked.  
"No, she's not. She went to Rouges."  
"Oh, because turn over to the rolling news." Amy said. "Tails house was destroyed."

"What happened?" asked Marine.

"Like I said, switch on the rolling news, it's been repeating all day." Amy said.

Vanilla turned on the television, only to see hardcore porn. "What in the world..." she said shocked.  
"It looks like Genital Hospital." said Marine. "But I don't think I've seen this episode before. Blaze likes this show."

Cream and Amy sweat dropped. "What next, I wonder..." Cream said. With that, Vanilla changed the channel to the rolling news.

"Earlier today, Station Square Hero Miles Tails Prower's Workshop was destroyed by a figure that strongly resembled renowned world saviour Sonic the Hedgehog. The young fox's house was destroyed around 12:35 PM as a blinding red light engulfed the Cliffside before Sonic himself showed up alongside Shadow the Hedgehog and destroying the metallic replica. Fortunately it was reported that Tails was not occupying the building at the time of destruction and no one was seriously hurt. We can only expect that the notorious Dr Robotnik, AKA Eggman is up to his nasty tricks again to defeat our heroes and take over the world."

"Well, I guess we'll have to take that theory of yours into more context than usual, Marine." said Vanilla.  
"Yeah..." said Marine. "I guess I called it pretty well."

"Theory?" Amy asked.

"Marine gave a theory that Eggman is after Tails' baby." Vanilla explained. "Though we can't confirm it yet, it's something that we need to be taking to context."  
"I also believe that Eggman will come after Tails by the time she's ready to pop." added Marine.

Amy looked as if she didn't quite understand the information she just took. "........What?"

Cream shook her head. _Great... spur of the moment exposes the big secret. Way to go, Mom._ she thought.

"Remember how you said that deal with Eggman on 'what you will become'? Well I think he was referring to being pregnant." Marine cleared up. "And the deal with Chimera still eludes me, but I think it has to do with Tails' pregnancy."

"Tails is...pregnant?" Amy's eyes widened, and the shock in her face was typically expected.

Vanilla finally realized what she unintentionally did. _Wait, did I just....  
_"Great job, Mom. You just told Amy what Tails wanted to let everyone know on her terms." said Cream.  
"Uh... Amy..."

"Tails is...pregnant?!" Amy repeated, still not really accepting the information. "But how can this be?"

"No clue, Amy." Vanilla answered.  
"Probably from the rape." Marine guessed.  
"Either way, you shouldn't have to worry about this."

"But....but, but, but....This explains so much..." Amy replied.

Before Amy can continue, Marine placed an odd looking hat on the pink hedgehog's head. Mechanical sounds could be heard and Amy soon passes out. "Oh good, it worked to perfection in this dimension." said Marine as she took the odd looking hat off of Amy's head.

"What in chaos name did you just do to her?" Cream questioned.

"This is one of my inventions." answered Marine. "It's my Memory Wiper." and Marine puts it away. "I didn't perfect it much, but it wipes memories from the mind of it's wearer that have happened within three minutes. Amy will wake up soon, but not have an idea on what just happened."  
"Well, I guess that helps us with my mistake." said Vanilla.  
"Yeah, well let's just hope you don't do it again."

"Yeah...and here you said 'Don't any of you tell Amy this.' When Marine fainted." Cream said, narrow eyed.

"I was emotional, like when you jumped off the roof of the hospital." said Vanilla.

"What about when I jumped off the roof?"

"Marine filled me in on your 'Tails angst' at that time."

"Oh."  
"Mmmm...what happened?" Amy asked, stirring round. "Did I pass out?"

"You had an episode after telling us that Tails' place was trashed on the news by some 'Sonic bot', luv." Marine cleared things up. "You wouldn't happen to know where Tails is now, would you?"

BZT BZT BZT  
Marine reached into her shirt pocket. "I got a text." she said. "Apparently, they showed the report on the TVs of Club Rouge."  
"That's it." said Vanilla. "I remember hearing Tails talking about Rouge when she left with Blaze."  
"Do you think she's at Rouge's club?"  
"Not sure, but I wanna go and try to pay her a visit."

"Why try to?" Amy asked. "It's not like you need a written invitation now is it?"

"Amy, do you know about a bot that looks like Sonic?" asked Marine.

"Well, if we're going to club Rouge, I'll tell you the story on the way about the many 'Metal Sonics'." Amy replied.

"If Metal Sonics can total Tails' home in the Mystic Ruins, they will probably head for Rouge's club to do the same thing." said Vanilla. "Amy, Cream, Marine, get to Club Rouge now."

The girls nod. "Are you coming?" Cream asked her.

"I'll be right behind you, but I want to make a phone call first." Vanilla answered.

"We'll wait for you." Amy said. "After all, you should know the story too."

"No time, now get moving. You know more about those things than Rouge does."

"Okay." And Amy, Cream and Marine leave the house.

Vanilla sighed, then picked up the phone. _You had better answer._ She thought.  
"This better be good." said the voice on the other side of the line.  
"Rouge, did you see the news?" Vanilla asked.  
"Yeah, and I have Tails in the back room." Rouge answered. "I told her to stay in the back so no one here at the club will-"  
"Get her somewhere safe and be on your guard. There's trouble coming your way."  
"What about you, Marine and Cream?"

"Cream, Marine and Amy are headed your way... and I'll be fine. But is there anyone else at your club that can help you?"  
"Blaze and Tikal are here too. Plus, I have Omega on standby."  
"Good, you'll need the extra help." and Vanilla hung up the phone.

Rouge hung up the phone on her end, then went back to see Tails in her room, who was currently crying as she sat on the bed. "Don't worry, Tails. That asshole won't get any of his hands on you." she gave comfort to the fox. "Can I bring you anything on my way downstairs?"

"No..." Tails replied tearfully.

"I'll give three raps. Don't leave this room for any reason until you hear them. Until then, stay safe and try to calm down." Tails merely sniffled and nodded, not saying another word. _I have to stop crying. But I'm so unhappy I can't help it..._ She thought.

Rouge pats Tails on the shoulder, and then leaves her room, locking the door in the process. Meanwhile, Vanilla lifts up her sleeve and pressed a sequence of buttons on a wristwatch.

"Yes." a voice responds from the wrist watch.  
"Boot up program Lamda Iota Tao." Vanilla commanded.  
"Booting program... T-minus twenty-five minutes and thirty-two point six seconds."  
"Understood." and Vanilla pressed a button on her wristwatch and covered it with her sleeve. "I was hoping to not have to use this again, but there may not be another option." Vanilla said to herself and out the door she went.


	9. Chapter 9

"Shadow.... Shadow, are you okay?" Shadow snapped back into reality only to see Knuckles. "I wanna say that you look tired, but I already know that you can't get 'fatigue' in a sense."

"Hm, I was concentrating." Shadow replied. "Even I have to think from time to time."

"You haven't been the same since you dealt with that incident at Tails' place. I hope he's all right."

"She, Knuckles. She." Shadow corrected. "How easily you forget."

"I need to start drinkin' cheep beer, the good stuff is making me lose it."

"It doesn't affect me at all." Shadow replied.

"Neither does alcohol poisoning."

"Aren't you late for work?" Shadow asked.

"Nope, Tikal's show doesn't come on until later."

"I meant at Rouges, but it's interesting to know you have 2 jobs."

"I like money... and kickin' ass to make it. I have the night off from Rouge's club."

"I see." Shadow said. "I have a feeling someone is walking around with a Chaos Emerald." He lifted a chaos emerald and looked at it. "One must be near here, this one is still glowing."

"But there's no one around... Do you think it could be fake?"

"The only fake emerald I know of is the one ingeniously made by our little genius fox." Shadow replied.

"So Tails had a fake in the lab?"

"No, she used it on the ark incident, since then I believe it's still on the Ark."

"Oh yeah, the one that Sonic tried to give Eggman, but almost died from it."

"Yes. That one."

"I see... well, let's look around anyway."

The two walk on, looking around for the emerald with little luck.  
"How irritating..." Shadow said. "I wonder where it is..."

The two stopped walking and Shadow looked into the air. "Do you hear something?"

"Does something sound like propulsion?"

"Yes."

"I think I see something, look over there." and Knuckles points into the sky.

And as he pointed out, Shadow looked to the area to see a large Aircraft carrier, clearly built and designed by Eggman. "Let's bring it to ground level." Shadow said.

"Beam me up, Scotty." Knuckles jokes.

"Let's stick to 'good' jokes." Shadow replied, unaffected. He puts a hand on Knuckles shoulder. "Hold on tight. Chaos Control!" And he warps them both to the craft.

As the two arrive, cannons are pointed their way. "Wow, a lot of security. Good...that means the Doctor is on board." And Shadow dashes forwards, being shot at, but the bullets don't affect him as they would have hoped.

Knuckles runs behind Shadow... _Times like these would be easy pickings on a Hard Line._ He thought.

As Shadow ran, he warped, destroyed a cannon, warped again and destroyed another on the other side of the ship, before warping back into his line. As the two approached the main command building, it opened up and out shot several old versions of Metal Sonic, from the days of Silver Sonic to Metal Sonic's current form; even a few Mecha Sonic's were around. The two stopped running and watched as they were surrounded. Then Eggman appeared on a monitor.  
"Greetings, Gentlemen, how may I be of service to you today? I'm impressed you found my ship, then again, I led you here like a pack of stray dogs." And Eggman held up the Grey Chaos Emerald for them to see.

Shadow laughed cockily. "So, you truly do have a death wish. You'd best hope that you can stop me Doctor, because once I have your fat throat in my palm, I promise you that you will not breathe again afterwards." He yelled angrily at him.

"I don't mind leftovers, just save some meat for me." said Knuckles

"Ooh hoo hoo hoo. Such amusement. But no, I feel quite safe here." Eggman said. "How do you like my new Army? I'm sure if I make enough, even Sonic will fall and Eggman Land will be built on the remains of Station Square." And Eggman laughed loudly.

"After what you did to Tails. No place is safe for you, Doctor." Shadow said as he began to remove the ring on his wrist, which shocked Eggman.  
"You're not serious, Shadow! You'll destroy this whole city." He called out.  
"And? You're point being?" Shadow asked, as he removed one ring.

"I better take cover." said Knuckles

Shadow finished removing the rings. "Cover? No, you want to run away, very fast." And then the ship began to shake violently as Shadow's body began to shoot out energy, his body going red in the process.  
"Shadow! Wait! We can talk this out!" Eggman pleaded.  
"Talk this out? TALK THIS OUT!!!!! DID YOU TALK THIS OUT WHEN YOU ABUSED TAILS BODY AND DESECRATED HER!" Shadow roared as more energy and electric sparks began to flow over his body. "THE TIME FOR TALK IS LONG OVER! YOUR TIME TO DIE IS NOW!"

Knuckles leaps from the aircraft and glides away, but notices a small capsule. _Hmm... I better tail this thing just in case._ He thought. _The last thing that needs to happen is Eggman's backup plan doing damage as well. Hopefully Shadow won't go as berserk as he did when the Black Arms invaded._

Shadow's power actually caused the ship to malfunction and plummet to the floor, meanwhile, the many metal Sonics charged Shadow and he warped away. As he appeared, one Sonic shattered into thousands of pieces and Shadow began work on destroying the rest. As he did so, he warped from one to the other, quickly turning them into nothing but pieces. Warping into the main command room with Eggman. "CHAOS!" The red-angered Shadow warped and appeared at the good doctor, taking his throat to his palm, and slamming him into the floor where he melded with it. "BLAST!"

From Knuckles point. He heard the nuke go off and the ship became just a mushroom of dust.

"So much for leftovers..." said Knuckles.

And Shadow warped next to Knuckles, putting his rings back on his wrists. "Damn fakes..." He uttered.

"Fake emerald after all, what a shame." said Knuckles.

"No, the emerald is real." Shadow said, pulling the emerald. He then took a computer chip and tossed it to Knuckles. "The Doctor wasn't."

"Great, another Egg Bot. Well stay alive, we're following a pod."

A large screen comes into view, and Eggman appears on the monitor.  
"Doctor! Show yourself you coward!" Shadow barked.  
"Now, now, Shadow, no need for that. I knew you wouldn't be civilised, so i had this little backup escape your reach, i still have much to say." Eggman replied over the monitor.  
"You better choose your last words well, Doctor!"  
"Yes, yes, I've heard it all before. But, my new plan is coming into motion. I plan to create the ultimate Sonic killing machine. And that pod you are following is a decoy, it was made to lead you to this monitor, but you always were gullible. Especially you, Knucklehead."

"Whatever is in that pod, it won't get far." said Knuckles.

"Sure, sure. You might be interested to know, Project Chimera is a complete failure, so I don't need Tails any longer."

Eggman laughed. "In fact, I doubt she'll live much longer."

"Pray that isn't the case, because if Tails dies...."

"Like you'll find me, fools." and Eggman cackled.

"Then you'd best hope someone who shows at least a little compassion kills you first, Doctor. Because you'll wish that you'd have taken a gun to your own head long ago, if I get to you first." Shadow replied. "We find you all the time, so why should this be any different?"

"Trust me; you will have a different outcome this time around."  
"Eggman," Knuckles began, "allow me to give you a warning."  
"You? Warn me...? This is out of the blue... or should I say out of the red?"

"The list to give you your genocide runs looooong, and narrow. And even if you manage to cheat death, the reaper will have your ass."

"You can only dream of my demise." said Eggman.

"You won't escape me forever, Doctor!" Shadow growled.

"Why, Shadow. I never knew you were so keen to get into Tails panties. It's not like you to be so fond of someone of the opposite gender." Eggman laughed.

"You and Vector both." Knuckles said under his breath.

"What?!" Shadow gritted his teeth. "Don't push me, Doctor! As if I don't have enough reason to kill you already!"

"Maybe she'll wear a pair of panties with your trademark signet on them. So do you like tidy white, or candy apple red?" And so the sparks began to fly off of Shadow again, his rage heightening. The area around beginning to shake violently. "Admit it, you want to fuck that foxes brains ou-..."  
"ENOUGH!" BOOM! The whole block then became rubble and Knuckles was send flying into a building, the monitor being destroyed completely, crashing to the ground. Luckily, Knuckles wasn't too badly hurt.

"Damn, what is with Shadow?" he wondered aloud.

As he looked over, Shadow's rage clearly had not subsided, the power causing a crater in the floor and debris flying all over the place.

Eventually, he calmed.

"Hey, Shadow, take it easy." said Knuckles. He then walked next to Shadow. "Eggman never pushed your buttons like this before." he said.

"Humph..." And Shadow simply walks away.

"Shadow, look at where we are. It's the outskirts of Station Square." Shadow takes notice.  
"Hm...." He takes an emerald. "One more to go." He uttered. "And I believe it's in Station Square, someone must have it."

*

Tails walks out of the bathroom with a small bag and yawns as she heads into Rouges private room. Rouge looked at the vixen.  
"More sickness?" She asked.  
"No, I was applying my prescriptions." Tails replied.

"Hm, I'd ask, but something tells me I shouldn't." Tikal said.  
"Probably not."

"Don't look at me, I have no idea what she's taking." Rouge said.

"I wasn't going to ask you." Tikal said. "Anyway, you said Vanilla phoned?"

"She's bringing the girls by to help out. Apparently, they need a time out of the house and she's using the 'trouble' excuse to do it. In any case, Omega is already on alert."

"The trouble excuse?" Tails questioned.

"Vanilla saw what happened to your place on the news and is concerned for your safety." Rouge cleared up. "You know, it's the 'Mother complex' thing."

"Oh." Tails lowered her ears sadly. "I see."  
"Well, they shouldn't take too long getting here." Tikal said.

"Besides, they're probably gonna try and cheer you up too, Tails." added Rouge.

"No doubt." Tails replied.

Amy, Cream and Marine just entered, and Rouge sees them on the security camera coming into the bar.

"Well, I have a club to run." said Rouge. "C'mon Tikal, I wanna' let you try a new drink."

"Shall I come or stay here?" Tails asked.

"You stay there, just to play it safe. Did you want anything, by the way?"

"You got anything that stops lactation?" Tails asked.

"You leaking already?"

"Believe it or not."

"I'll grab it. Go ahead and head back to the club life, Tikal."

"Sure." And off Tikal walks.

Rouge looks at Tails. "Yeah, you're leaking, and dried milk doesn't do your chest fur justice when it mats up." the bat notices.

"Indeed..." Tails replied. "Cold showers don't work either."

"Cold showers? That's a disaster waiting to happen."

"Vanilla's suggestion."

"Vanilla's nipples probably don't harden when exposed to cold water. But then again, Momma said that stuff is trial and error."

"Well, mine definitely was an error and I think I'm going to have to start buying bras too. I've never had large breasts buuuut; I've noticed they're definitely getting bigger." Tails said.

Rouge laughs. "You probably won't be able to shower with your sensitive chest." Rouge then takes Tails into the room. The fox sits on the bed and watches Rouge look around. "Ah, here we go." she said. Tails tilts her head slightly.

"Well, it isn't a miracle cure, but it'll help out." and Rouge hands Tails a breast pump.

Tails blushes slightly. "Um...okay."

"The instructions come with it, so don't worry. After you empty out, you should be fine." Tails begins to read through the instructions, her blush clearly deepening as she does so.

Rouge shakes her head. "I'll leave you to get familiar with your 'helper'. Just save me two cups of your milk." and Rouge leaves Tails alone.

"Yeah...like that'll happen..." Tails uttered, she continues with the instructions.

Meanwhile, Blaze and Tikal were there to greet the girls and Vanilla just showed up.  
"So, where's Tails?" Amy asked.

"Upstairs." Tikal answered. "Rouge is having a heart-to-heart with her again."

"I hope she's not upset again." Cream worried.

"Nah, something about prescriptions."

"We'll leave that topic alone then." Amy said.

"So, I take it everything is fine at Vanilla's house." and up walks Blaze.

"Yes. But we were ordered to come here." Amy said.  
"I'm right here you know." Vanilla pointed out.

"So, how long have you been around anyway, Blaze?" asked Marine.  
"I've been here for a while." Blaze answered. "I think I like this drink called a Kahlua."  
"That's a good drink." noted Tikal.

"Anyway, you were going to tell us about Metal Sonic, Amy." Vanilla said.

"Metal... Sonic?" asked Blaze. "This I gotta hear."  
"Save room for me on that boat." added Tikal.

"It's a long story; Tails knows it better than I do." Amy replied.

"Tails is busy." out walks Rouge and gets behind the bar. "So, what can I get you girls to drink?"

"I always wanted a Club Soda." Marine answered.  
"You're too young for that." said Tikal.  
"Agreed." added Blaze. "Water for me."

"I'll have water too." said Amy.  
"I still wanna Club Soda." Marine grumbled.

"You're too young." said Vanilla.  
"I'm not thirsty." said Cream.  
"Can you make me an Incredible Hulk?" asked Vanilla.

The music in the club stopped and everyone looked at Vanilla. "What, can't a single mother have an Incredible Hulk? And I know you two queers at table five aren't shocked. I can smell that Zima from a mile away."

"Zima? You snuck Zima's into my club?!" Rouge was not happy.  
"We like Zima, thank you very much." said one of the two guys.  
Omega grabbed the two and held them over his head. "SNEAKING DRINKS INTO THE CLUB IS PROHIBITED." he said.  
"Toss their asses." said Rouge.  
"AFFIMITIVE."

The two men were chucked from the club, suits upon impact. Omega then walked back into the club. "Alright, let's clear up one thing." Rouge announced to everyone in the club. "Sneaking in drinks to my club is prohibited. But if you get caught, get caught with something decent. Zima's are for pussies, and I don't serve pansy drinks in my club. And if the lady wants an Incredible Hulk, she can have one."

Before the club activities can resume, Omega goes out of the club, but is thrown through the window.  
"WARNING, WARNING, HOSTILE ROBOT DETECTED!" he shouted.

"Everyone, get out of the club, this is not a drill!" Rouge yelled.

With the sudden disturbance and Rouge's outburst, the club screamed and scampered, slowly getting out of the club. The only ones not panicking so much were the girls and Omega, who jet boosted back out the window.

After about a minute of silence, the roof caves in and Omega slams to the floor, dust clouds spraying everywhere. The girls duck for cover, and watch the last dust ball as it fades. The moment it clears, they see a Metallic version of Sonic, but he was taller than the rest and though he had thin arms and legs for precision movement, the wrists and ankles were chunky, clearly containing lethal weaponry to destroy with, that and the feet were jet propelled. It had a red eye visor, which clearly was multiple scanning; nothing was going to get by this machine.

_What the hell is that?_ Wondered Blaze.  
_Something tells me I'm gonna have another ruined dress._ Thought Tikal.  
_I guess that's a Metal Sonic._ Thought Marine.

"That's not the Metal Sonic I know..." Amy gulped.

"That doesn't help us." said Marine.

"I'm sorry, this one's different, so sue me." Amy replied.

Mecha looks around the room. "Scanning the area." It spoke.  
"TARGET DESTROY!" And Omega grabs Metal's leg's and throws it into the wall, standing up and turning his arms into machine guns.

"PROCEEDING TO DESTROY ALL EGGMAN ROBOTS!" And Omega opened fire on Metal.

"I don't know if it's just my instincts talking, but this doesn't seem like a safe place to me." Cream said to the others. "We gotta leave."

"I say Eggman's come for Tails." said Rouge. "And I've been waiting for some payback."

Vanilla looks at her wrist gear. "Status report." she said.  
"T minus five minutes." the voice said.

Metal boomed out of the wall and crashed into Omega, knocking him back, though not far as Omega's feet had a decent grip to the floor. Omega changed his cannon to a flamethrower and open fired on Metal's head, to little effect, Metal knocked his arm away, and then fired three tank piercing rounds from his left arm through Omega's left shoulder pad, causing severe damage to his arm, but it was still attached. Omega lifted Metal by his arm and rotated his upper body, swinging Metal around before flinging him out the window.  
"DAMAGE REPORT: 23% DAMAGE." Omega said. "PROCEEDING TO ELIMINATE EGGMAN ROBOTS."

_Fire doesn't seem to work._ Thought Blaze.  
"My club..." Rouge was pissed.  
"I'll go and help out Omega." said Marine.

"I think I'll go check in on Tails." said Tikal.  
"Take Vanilla with you." said Rouge.  
"I'll back up Tikal." said Blaze.  
"Great." and Rouge flew outside. "Move your ass, Amy."

"Right!" And Amy takes up her hammer. With those words, Marine, Rouge and Amy head to battle alongside their red metal companion whilst Vanilla, Tikal, Cream and Blaze head into the back to Tails room. Metal flies in towards his target, to narrowly avoid a large missile from Omega. It warped behind Omega and rips his right arm into Omega's back causing slight malfunction to the robot. Rouge however flies in and gives Metal a swift back-kick to Metal, launching him away, Amy leaps over Rouge to bring her hammer into Metal, only to have Metal catch the hammer, causing it's head to come off violently into a table and Amy grabbed by the throat. Metal drops Amy, but gives her a sharp blow with his elbow, sending her flying through a wall, destroying a large stock of Rouge's fine wines.

"Tell me you have more hardware than that." said Rouge. She flew towards Metal. _It's times like these I wish Knuckles was here._ She thought and charged the robot. She dove feet first at Metal, only to be grabbed by her heels. She was soon thrown into a wall.

Luckily for Rouge, she was thrown into Amy, knocking the pink hedgehog down in the process. Metal soon flew towards them, but was slashed by an anchor, knocking him slightly off course. Marine leapt from a rock with her weapon in hand, and slammed it into the robot.

"Ahhh...You okay, Rouge?" Amy questioned, trying to stand again. "That thing hits hard. Luckily i got a spare hammer..."

"I should've worn my steel toe boots." said Rouge.  
Marine is sent flying and lands nearby. "When you two are done playing possum." she said.  
"Wait, is that an anchor connected to a chain?" asked Rouge.  
"Where's your weapon, luv." and Marine started spinning that chain around.

Metal grabs Marine by the head and lifts her into the air slightly, clearly planning to crush her dead. However, a metallic arm of Omega grabs Metal's, causing malfunction, letting Marine escape. Metal ejects spikes from his free arm and stabs it into Omega's chest, however the red robot simply places his free arm on Metal's chest firing his beam cannon, launching Metal high into the air.

As he was pushed, Metal turned his own arm into cannon and fired a beam cannon right back at Omega, which struck his already damaged shoulder and Rouge was not happy to see Omega's arm rip completely off. The beams stopped and Metal landed with a thud and was clearly quite paralysed, though only temporary.

"How are you holding up, Omega?" asked Rouge.

"DAMAGE LEVELS ARE AT CRITICAL LEVEL. THIS ROBOT IS A WORTHY OPPONENT, BUT NOTHING WE CANNOT HANDLE. I CAN PROCESS ENOUGH FOR A BLAZING TORNADO." Omega replied.

"That works for me." said Rouge, "But afterwards, fall back to the club for repairs."

"WILL YOU BE ABLE TO HANDLE THIS ALONE?" Omega questioned her.

"Not really. But we'll stand less of a chance if you're totalled."  
"And how do you plan on fixing up Omega?" asked Amy. "Tails can't repair him in her current state."  
"I can try something." said Marine.

Inside the club, Tikal and the other girls can hear the madness going on outside. "It doesn't sound pretty out there." said Blaze.  
"Not pretty at all." added Tikal.  
Cream was once again frustrated. "There's no choice, we have to help." she said and headed downstairs.  
"Cream, no!" Blaze yelled.  
"I'll be fine, but someone better get a hold of Knuckles." and downstairs Cream went.

Tails was still in her room, she wasn't oblivious to the battle, but she wasn't entirely concerned either. _I wonder how long it takes. Either they win or I am taken._ She thought, she curled up on her bed, burying her face in her arms. _I'm such a burden..._

Vanilla went in to check on Tails. "Tails, are you holding up okay?" she asked the fox.

"Not really." Tails replied, looking up.

"Things will turn out for the best, just don't worry."

"Even if I am captured again and forced into situations like before, I know Sonic will save me, so it doesn't matter what happens so long as everyone is okay." Tails replied.

"We will be. Well, I'm going to go and help out the girls. Stay safe, okay?" Tails simply curls up again.

Vanilla leaves the room and heads out the back door of the club. _I better go see if I can get a hold of Shadow._ She thought and left.

Back with the battle, Omega and Rouge had performed the Blazing Tornado, which caused Metal to shut down......for only a moment as it was back up again, knocking Rouge violently into a wall, causing one of her wings to be injured. Metal was brought to the floor as Amy slammed her hammer into it's back, but it wasn't long before Amy was sent flying high into the sky. Omega fired his beam cannon, only for Metal to warp behind Omega and attempt to spike him again, only Omega saw it coming and evaded. Omega opened up his shoulder pad, filled with missiles, as Metal flew backwards, launching out the spikes at Omega, Omega firing the missiles, both robots were hit and brought to the ground, Omega sustaining serious damage.

"Holy shite! Won't this thing stay down?" asked Marine.  
"Marine, get Omega back to the club now!" said Rouge.  
"But... but we-"  
"Omega won't be able to take any more damage from this fight. Take him to the club and get him repaired."  
"Fine, you win." and Marine ran towards Omega... however, explosions knocked her away from the heavily damaged robot. Her landing was hard and her body rolled three feet away. She was down for the count.  
"Great, now we have two people out of commission." said Rouge.

Metal stood triumphantly on Omega, looking toward Rouge.  
"Mission successful." It spoke.

Ricochet sounds were soon heard, and then Metal was struck from the side and sent into a wall. Rouge, despite being confused, was thankful for the close call as she headed toward Omega. _What was that?_ She wondered.

Rouge ran over to Omega and managed to help the robot up. "Can you even hear me?" she asked. Omega couldn't speak, all that came out were jumbled noises. He was sparking severely from his damages and one of his light sensors was out, the other dim. Rouge also noticed his power supply was 'bleeding'.

"Not good, not good at all." Rouge said and started to carry Omega back to the club. Unluckily for her, Metal was charging towards them. However, the robot took another blow and was knocked to the side. _Must get back to the club._ she thought.  
"Get going, Rouge... I'll cover you." To Rouge's delight, she heard Cream's voice.

"Gonna need some help getting wounded out of here." Rouge called out.  
Cream flew down near Rouge, Omochao guns in hand. "I'll buy you time, but I don't know how much." she said.

Cream leaps out of the way of Metal, only enough to get a good shot in on him and knock him away from Rouge though. Metal changes his target however and Cream becomes top on the hit list. Metal charges in and Cream fires at him, however, he completely vanishes.  
"What..?" Cream questioned. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her right cheek and flew off to the left, after slamming into the ground and bouncing like a rock skipping on water, she was stopped by the metallic monster, lifted and launched. Metal pursued and began knocking Cream around like a ragdoll, though the doe managed to get some decent shots in, she was clearly getting pummelled. Metal took her by the cuff of her neck and pelted her to the floor, where she collided with a nasty bang. Metal landed behind her, took her by the neck and brought a gun turret to her head.

Just as he was about to execute the doe, he began to malfunction. He dropped Cream and tried to get away, to no avail. Tails had managed to fly her way in and plug Cream's hacking device into his circuitry and was slowly destroying him from the inside out. However, he gained enough strength to punch Tails away. Tails however recovered easily enough, and the machine she was using was crushed.  
"Target acquired. Proceeding to capture." And Metal walked over to the fox, who was backing away. As he reached out, a flash appeared and Shadow stood guarding Tails. Metal lifted his hand to punch the Black Hedgehog, but Shadow pointed up. Metal looked, just in time to be punted in the head by Knuckles and knocked away.

Rouge held Omega and was still trying to get back into the club. "You guys took your sweet time getting here." said Rouge.  
"Sue us, we had to deal with people fleeing in terror." Knuckles explained.  
Blaze and Tikal came out to help. "You look like shit." said Tikal.  
"No thanks to you." said Rouge.  
Blaze took Marine. "Man, you guys look like hell." she said. "And what are you doing out here, Tails?"

Tails lifts unconscious Cream onto her back and walks over to the girls. "I got worried..." She said to them.  
"Anyway, leave this one to us now...I still have a lot of ANGER TO VENT!" And Shadow began to expose his rage.  
"Scanning detecting. Ultima-.." And Shadow punted Metal into Knuckles who punched it into the air, the two chasing after him.

"Someone needs to repair Omega." Rouge points out.  
"Where's Amy?" asked Tikal.  
"Shadow, deal with Omega, I'll handle the bot." said Knuckles.  
"I'll see if I can find Amy." said Tikal, then changed into a sphere of light and went in search for Amy.

"No way! Not until I get some back pay!" Shadow yelled at Knuckles, before dealing another swift blow to Metal.

Blaze takes Cream off of Tails and the girls, with Vanilla get back inside and put Omega on the floor. Tails instinctively looks over Omega to check what she can do.  
"Okay, Rouge, get some tools, I'm gonna talk you through this, unless I do it myself." Tails said.

"I'll fix him up, you've done enough." said Rouge.  
"It's times like these I'm glad I went to get the medkit." said Vanilla.  
"Here are the tools, Rouge." said Blaze as she handed Rouge the toolbox.  
"Okay Tails, let's get some instructions." said Rouge.  
"I'll go help look for Amy." said Blaze.

Meanwhile out with the battle, Metal was getting a beat around. Knuckles punched him to the ground where Shadow dealt him a swift blow to the side. The two chased.  
"Your friend is hurt! You should be repairing him, or is your pride too much for that much kindness?" Knuckles mocked Shadow.

"Fuck you, Knuckles! Fuck you!" And Shadow warped above Metal. "Chaos BLAST!" And after a short nuke, Metal skidded to a halt, but was punted in the face by Knuckles. Shadow charged in afterwards and leaped above him. "Chaos! SPEAR!" And he launched 6 different yellow spear like light attacks, which caused Metal some serious damage. Knuckles fell back down onto Metal with a nice blow to the head. Metal then lifted up his own fist and punched Knuckles away slightly.

Metal landed away and sparked, falling to a knee as Knuckles and Shadow landed a few feet away.  
"Careful, Shadow. I know this model type. This is Mecha Madness." Knuckles said.  
"So?"  
"The last time Madness appeared, it was Sonic robotocized by Eggman, he was a difficult enemy." Knuckles explained.  
"Well, this one's not so tough." Shadow spat. "Let's finish it o-.." In that instant, Knuckles was walloped away skipping along the floor. "Damn!" And Shadow narrowly avoided a swift kick.  
"Recharge complete, commencing destruction of inferior life forms." Madness spoke.  
"I'll show you inferior!" And Shadow warped behind Madness and went in for a roundhouse kick, but it was caught and Shadow found himself launched into Knuckles.

Knuckles caught Shadow. "Like I said, difficult." he reminded the black hedgehog.

"Arrrrr!" And Shadow boomed forward, knocking Knuckles over in the process, he crashed into Madness, knocking him away, before pursuing.

_So much for controlling his anger._ Knuckles thought and dug into the ground.

Shadow and Mecha rolled into their respective spin balls and began crashing violently together, causing windows to smash and in some cases, buildings to crumble and fall to the ground. Luckily, all civilians by this point had evacuated. Shadow brought a kick in to finish, but Mecha warped behind him and performed his own, knocking Shadow through the floor.

Before the robot could continue, Knuckles shot out of the ground with an uppercut. The blow ended up knocking Madness ten feet away. "Quit acting like a pissed off drunk and start looking for a weak point, Shadow." the echidna advised. "Otherwise, we'll be fighting this thing in vain." and he charged the robot.

Boom! The ground exploded into a crater and Shadow dashed forth. "I did." He said as he ran next to Knuckles. "Check the left of its chest. Omega did some damage and I'm pretty sure it's main power accelerator is there."

"Great... I should've brought my fighting gloves." said Knuckles.

"Nothing we do alone will penetrate it. However, that little trick we've worked on should do the trick." Shadow said.

"I'm open to suggestions, so lead on."

Knuckles leaped into the air and Shadow spin dashed into Madness, knocking him back. He leaped up and took Knuckles by the wrist before turning into a spinball, spinning Knuckles around in a violent loop. "CHAOS....!" And Shadow launched Knuckles at Madness, Knuckles turned into a purple flame as his right Knuckle glowed red. As he reached Madness, he plunged his glowing fist into his chest.  
"KNUCKLE!" And Madness was flung to the ground and exploded, the result being his damaged remains with a gaping hole it his chest. Shadow and Knuckles landed by him.

"He's not getting up after that." said Knuckles.

"If he does, we'll knock him back down." And Shadow walked past Madness, giving a swift kick to its head as he walked back toward the club. "Let's get back."

Knuckles and Shadow get back to the girls who are inside of the club. Rouge was still trying to fix up Omega, but he was in really bad shape. "Ow... I feel like I got my clock rung." Marine finally stirred, bandages on her head.  
"So what next?" asked Rouge.

Tails was on a laptop, typing away but still telling Rouge what to do.  
"How's Omega looking?" Shadow asked.

"Horrible, his main processor is fried and I'm trying to work some magic on it." Rouge answered.  
"You can use my metal hat to try and jerry rig a new one." offered Marine.  
"Thanks for the help, but it won't work."  
Tikal came back with Amy. "I guess the fighting's over." she said. "Amy's banged up really bad, but nothing too serious."

"Okay, check, check and...send!" Tails said, clicking the last of her keys on the laptop.  
"What did you do?" Shadow questioned.  
"I've just activated a system from my lap, which apparently is intact, so you should here a bang momentarily, once you do, someone go outside and look for parachuting pods." Tails replied.  
"That doesn't tell me anything."  
"I booted Lavender through the backup power and had her pod and a few spare parts and pieces launched over here. Should take 5 minutes or so."

"What happened out there anyway? It sounded like we were being nuked." Blaze asked.

"Let's just say that our fight was nothing but Madness." Knuckles answered.  
"Where's Vanilla?" asked Marine.  
"She isn't back from looking for Amy." Rouge answered. "She patched up you guys and went after Tikal and Blaze did for Amy."  
"Great." Tikal said.

"Gzzzzzzyaaaccckkkkk...." Omega let out as his repairs were underway.  
"Rouge, take a clamp of some sort and close it on the split in the wiring on the left of his motherboard. Hopefully that **should** fix his speech mechanism temporarily." Tails said.

Rouge followed Tails orders and patched up Omega. "Talk to me, Omega. You look pretty bad, but you aren't fodder." she said.

"DON'T INSULT ME, I'M TOO POWERFUL TO BECOME FODDER." Omega answered.  
"How is your self repairing programming?"  
"SELF REPAIR.... DANGER, DANGER, HOSTILE ROBOT!"

Before anything else could be said, Knuckles is thrown into the club after he took a walk outside. His frame was sent through the roof which was on the floor and even a table. "Company..." was all he said before passing out.

Madness walks into the club, and everyone saw that the bot appeared to be half damaged. _You've gotta be kidding me._ thought Marine and Shadow.  
"That damn thing can heal itself... just my luck." said Rouge.  
"I've had enough." said Blaze. "Tikal, let's buy time." and she charged Madness.  
Marine picked up Cream as Tikal went to assist Blaze. "Forget fighting, let's bail out of here, mates." she said.  
"Shadow, get Tails and Omega in the back. I'll grab Amy." said Rouge.

Shadow however charged forth, knocked Madness away slightly and landed next to Omega.  
"Tails! Move your ass over here!" And with a slight delay, Tails ran over to Shadow, who placed his hand on Omega and grabbed Tails wrist.  
"Chaos! Control!" And with a bright flash, he warped them away.

Blaze and Tikal battled Madness, landing blows to the robot but the effects were minimal and Tikal was sent flying. "Ow, that's gonna leave a mark." she said and stood up from the rubble she was slammed into.  
Blaze was faring better, but her flames weren't doing much against Madness. "Whenever you're done sleeping over there." she said.  
"Futile... your resistance is futile." Madness said, then backhands Blaze back into the club.  
Using her magic, Tikal fired a barrage of crystal shards at Madness that only stuck in his armour. _No good..._ she thought and ran in for a rush.

The effort was in vain as Madness warped behind Tikal, grabbed her, slammed her into the concrete and flung her into the club, landing on top of Knuckles. Luckily, Knuckles woke up from this. "Thanks, I think." he said and went outside. However, he ended up catching Blaze before he could leave the club and the two fell down.  
"Useless inferior life forms." said Madness and he swats them both away.

In the back, Marine, Rouge, Tails and Shadow heard all of the commotion. "I never thought that Madness could heal itself." said Shadow.  
"That's one nasty Metal Sonic." said Marine.  
"Madness is worse than Metal Sonic." Tails noted.  
"We better go and help out." said Rouge.  
"Hold still." said Marine and relocated Rouge's dislocated wing. "Get going you two."  
"Let's move." said Shadow.  
"Agreed." said Rouge and she went with Shadow to assist.  
Marine had her anchor ready. "Unless there's any way I can fix up Omega, I'm on defense." she said. "No one's takin' my crew."

Rouge and Shadow see Madness standing there. Rouge notices Blaze, Tikal and Knuckles out cold and is baffled. "I don't get it." she said. "Instead of going in for the kill, it's just waiting for us."  
"More time to heal." said Shadow.  
"Ultimate life form, you are not." said Madness. "Your destruction will come first, then I will destroy your friends, and finally capture target."  
"Not on your mechanical life!" Rouge and Shadow yell.  
"Destroy!" and Madness charged them.

Rouge and Shadow charge Madness, letting Rouge's feet take the first blow. Shadow landed a couple of swift kicks and Madness got in his share as well.

After a while, Rouge and Shadow alternate blows, but made sure the left side of the robot took more damage by the right side. It worked for a while, but Madness ended up adapting to everything and compensated for the waves. One of Rouge's attacks was going to land, but Madness grabbed her legs, dislocating one and breaking the other. She was then thrown away.

Shadow took this upon himself to finish this. "Enough, I'm through with you." he said.  
"Then kill yourself." said Madness.  
"Fuck off!"  
"Does not compute."

"Then compute this." and the hedgehog began to glow a crimson red. Madness charged Shadow, ready for the killing blow. "Chaos.... Rift!"

Using his chaos energy, Shadow fired a black hole at Madness and it landed. One minute afterwards, the rift subsided and Madness stood. However, Madness stood before Shadow, fully repaired. _No way!_

Madness warped forward, then blasted Shadow with Chaos energy, neutralizing the black hedgehog to a point where he was paralyzed. "Ultimate life form... you are not." and Madness left Shadow in his frozen state.  
_Eggman... what have you wrought...._ For the first time in his life, Shadow felt powerless as he saw Madness proceed towards the back.

Marine stood on guard as Tails managed to store Omega safe from harm. "Tails, this is a bad spot, but I guess there's nothing left." Marine said.  
"Quite." and there stood Madness. "Surrender the fox immediately."  
Tails curled up in fear. "You can kiss my furry arse!" yelled Marine.

"Fine, you shall perish in vain."  
"Nobody's takin' my crew." and Marine rushed Madness.  
The rush was in vain as Madness grabbed Marine, slammed her into the wall and tossed her in front of Tails.

Tails looked in horror at Marine's slumped body. "Oh Marine..." She then gripped her head in fear. _Everyone is getting hurt and it's all my fault...I can't deal with this, I can't... _Tails stood. "Enough! I surrender; just stop hurting my friends..." Tails said. "I'll do what you want, but leave my friends alone."

"Run Tails.... run." was all Marine managed to say before passing out.

_This is for the best, no pain can be worse than watching my friends die..._ "Stop...just stop hurting them and I'll go with you." Tails repeated.

"Come, spare your friends and concede to your inevitable fate." said Madness. Tails lowered her head and stepped over Marine, walking towards Madness sadly.

Defeat had finally set in for Tails, something she felt would eventually happen. Though she didn't want to go, she felt that Sonic will always come for her. She felt that by giving her "white flag walk" that she would be able to rescue her friends.

But before Tails could come within "striking distance" from Madness, a hole was blown in the wall. _What the..._ Tails wondered, but saw an energy blast knock Madness through the other wall and out into the alleyway. A blur went by Tails and charged Madness. _What was that?  
_"Defend, defend." is what the fox heard then looked out to see Madness in battle with another robot. One that was familiar to her. Seeing this brought tears to her eyes. "G... merl...."

Tails couldn't believe her eyes, it was Gmerl. Madness battled Gmerl, but was soon finding this task difficult. Madness fired blasts of chaos energy at Gmerl, but they had no effect. "Does not compute." he said.  
"Compute... compute..." Gmerl responded, then charged Madness.  
Madness scanned Gmerl, only to find the robot was an unknown model. "Readjusting combat protocol." it said during the fight with Gmerl.  
"Readjust... readjust." said Gmerl.

The battle went on and Madness was getting wiped, though Gmerl took his fair share of damage, Madness' damage was far greater. "Does not compute... unknown robot... unable to compensate." said Madness.  
"No compensation.... disable threat... disable threat." said Gmerl.

_Where has Gmerl been all this time?_ Tails wondered as she watches the fight from a safe distance.  
"Engage Soul Body." said Gmerl as he charged Madness.  
"You will be.... destroyed..." said Madness.

During this charge, Gmerl immersed itself in energy, but it was at this point where everything was revealed. The Soul Body attack, revealed Gmerl in his regular form, but it also revealed Vanilla in a black body suit with a circuit board pattern on it. Tails nearly fell over at what she just saw. _You've gotta be kidding me...._ she thought. _It's Vanilla... in Gmerl?  
_Gmerl went in and did his series of blows, finishing up with an energy blast that totals Madness. Its parts fell to the ground, but were fried. Gmerl stood there, momentarily, then immersed himself in energy again, then returned back to one entity again. Tails' jaw dropped. _Vanilla wears Gmerl as armour... Why didn't I think of that?_ She thought.

"Very good, G. Well done." Vanilla's voice came from Gmerl's body.  
"Well done, well done." said Gmerl.  
"Soul Release."  
"Release... release."  
Once again, Gmerl immersed itself in energy and removed himself from Vanilla's frame where the two stood side by side. "Fodder, simply fodder." said Gmerl. "Eggman's robots are always fodder."

Tails still couldn't believe what she saw, she stood there completely gobsmacked.  
"Uuh...Vanilla?" She questioned.

Vanilla looked over to Tails. "Are you okay, Tails?" she asked.

Tails remained for a moment. Having adapted to this odd chain of events a little she finally replied. "Not...really. I don't feel well..." She said.

"Let's get you inside." As Vanilla approached Tails, the young fox closed her eyes and fell forward, luckily though, Vanilla was able to catch the unconscious fox.

_Oh my...The stress of it all has finally sunk in..._ Vanilla thought. At this point, she head a bang from above and down came a parachute Pod which lands safely next to her. It opens up and a small lavender robot hovers out and turns to the pod. It was an orbed machine with eyes, ears and two arms, no legs and it hovered.  
"Activating protocol." It said, the pod then closed and was lifted by the machine, which looked at Vanilla.

"We have injured and Tails needs medical attention." Vanilla explained.

"Roger, dodger." The little machine replied. "I have acquired many types of medical equipment for humanoid life forms; however my programming means that I can only repair machinery."

"Useless junk, I need no repairs." said Gmerl.  
"Be nice, G." scolded Vanilla. "Well, I hope you have bandages and an X-ray machine, because there's a lot of work to be done."

"Built in my systems, ma'am." Lavender replied. She hovered over to Gmerl. "Hmmm...You could use a polish. Lavender then flew round Gmerl and into the club's back, dumping the box with a loud thud to the floor. The pod opened into a miniature medical centre, it had all that would be required for medical help. Lavender flew into the back room and located the damaged Omega. Pulling him out of storage and effortlessly carrying him into the main bar area and then carefully putting him down; she began work on his repairs.

"Come on, G. It's time to aid." said Vanilla as she carried Tails into the club.  
"Aid... aid..." said Gmerl and followed Vanilla inside the club.

Lavender flew away from Omega and a wire rose from her head. "Ma'am, shall I send a radio message to Dr. Quack for professional assistance?" She questioned Vanilla.

"If you can, call him." Vanilla answered.

"Calling Dr Quack." And Lavender began ringing like a phone to signal the call was being made, she returned to Omega to work on his repairs whilst waiting for an answer.

Gmerl went over to Rouge and popped her dislocated leg back into place. Her screaming woke up everyone else. "You are loud." Gmerl said.

"What in the hell happened here?" asked Tikal.  
"We got our asses kicked, that's what." answered Rouge.  
Knuckles stood to his feet. "Well well, if it isn't our friendly gizoid. Where were you all this time?" he asked.  
"Home." Gmerl answered.

"ODDLY SHAPED FLYING POD IS A NUISANCE." said Omega.  
"Nuisance, nuisance." joked Gmerl.  
Omega looks at Gmerl. "GIZOID, GIZOID, PREPARING TO..." and Omega suddenly shut down.

"Large big headed robot should not move whilst I am repairing. Temporarily shut down." Lavender looked at Gmerl. "Don't make me do the same to you." She lifted an arm which sparked twice with a laser in threat. "Because I will." Lavender then clicked, and she flew over to Vanilla and offered her left arm to her as if it was a receiver. "Call has been answered; take the receiver to speak to Dr Quack."

Vanilla does as ordered. "I would say good evening, Doctor, but it isn't one." she said.  
"Vanilla, what's going on?" asked Dr. Quack.  
"Tails is here at what's left of Club Rouge. One of Eggman's robots tried to take her, but thankfully failed."  
"Is that all?"  
"Tails is out cold from a fainting spell and her pulse isn't ideal. Alongside the-"  
"I'm on my way."  
"Be careful of the-" but the call disconnected before she could finish. "Debris..."  
Omega finally stood up. "E123 OMEGA ONLINE." he said as his eyes went red. "INITIATING RECOVERY PROGRAM FOR REPAIRS. ESTIMATED TIME FOR FULL RECOVERY: T-MINUS 75 HOURS, 30 MINUTES."

"You earned every minute of your recovery, Omega." said Rouge.  
"Not bad." Gmerl said. "Omega... relative to E102 Gamma... Friend."

"Considering he wants to destroy all Eggman robots, you'll have to make sure you can get Rouge or Shadow to convince him to spare you his wrath." Amy said to Gmerl.

"Nice to see you're awake, Amy." said Rouge.

"Likewise." Amy replied. "Everyone's alright, right? Everyone is here?"

"I have a broken leg, but I'm still alive." Rouge answered.  
"Shadow seems to have bolted." Knuckles answered.  
"Cream, Tails and Marine are all knocked out." said Marine.  
"My dress is ruined and I have a migraine headache." said Tikal. "Probably from a concussion, but I can't die."  
"The joys of being immortal." said Knuckles. "I think I have a few broken ribs."  
"I can't feel my left arm." Blaze said.

"At least it's still connected to you, but you can use a chiropractor." said Rouge.

Lavender then morphs slightly, and her left eye changes to a scope of some sort and what appear to be eye sockets behind, clearly so she can be seen through. "Proceeding with X-Ray analyses." And she flies over to Rouge, giving her a total once over. "Minimal Damage to chest area. Arm's are in working order. Right Leg is broken, slight fractures. Advised medical attention, keep off of it until properly treated." Lavender flies over to Knuckles, giving him the scan. "Internal bruising, but no damaged bones."

"Is there a chiropractor in the house?" asked Blaze.

Lavender flies over to Amy and scans her. "No serious injury." She said. She flies over to Cream and scans. "Damages to the neck, advised a support to assist with healing. Caution of breaking."  
"She flies around, giving everyone their little look over, before flying into the back rooms. After a short while she returns. "Caution! Caution! Marine has broken ribs; one is in a dangerous position of puncturing her lungs." She said. "Advised not to move without professional help."

"What I wouldn't give for a beer right about now." said Knuckles.  
Tikal was checking the liquor locker. "All that's left are hard lemonades." she said.  
"Grab one for me." said Rouge.  
"Me too." said Vanilla as she checked Cream's torso for damages.  
"I'll take one." said Blaze.  
"Do you want one, Amy?" Tikal asked.

"No one is drinking that crap until after I'm done working my magic." and in comes Dr. Quack. "Let's check our mother to be."  
"Marine first," said Blaze. "One of her broken ribs is about to puncture her lungs in addition to her being unconscious."  
"Does anyone else have anything dangerously broken?"  
"Cream may have a concussion and Tails is bruised up well, but nothing as serious as Marine." Vanilla answered. "The foetus also seems fine and Tails isn't bleeding out or internally."  
"Then I better get to work on Marine." said Dr. Quack and opened up his suitcase.

Lavender flies over to Dr. Quack and everyone looks at her and sweat-drops, not because she flew over to him, but because she was suddenly wearing a nurse's hat. "Doctor, there is a miniature medical centre for your uses." She tells him.

"Wait...Mother to be? Who's that?" Amy asked.

Gmerl manages to place that Memory wiper on Amy's head and once again gets her brain erased. "That's a funny hat." said Gmerl.

Amy falls over again. Vanilla shook her head. _Marine's hat really has saved the day once again._ She thought.  
"Did I miss something?" asked Dr. Quack as he was cutting Marine's top in half.  
"I thought I heard something about a foetus." said Knuckles.  
"No you didn't" said Tikal and placed her hand on Knuckles' head.

"What are you doing?" asked Dr. Quack.  
"Just erasing Knuckles' memory up to the point of being scanned." answered Tikal.  
"Let's keep Tails' pregnancy from Amy and Knuckles. We want her to tell everyone." Vanilla explained.  
"Point taken." said Dr. Quack. "Marine has a torso for a raccoon."

"Oh?" Blaze questioned. "Is she gonna be okay?"

"I just have to operate." Dr. Quack answered. "Luckily for me, I already have Marine hooked up to a monitor." and he began to operate.

"Please be okay, Marine..." Blaze uttered.

"So, since Club Rouge needs to be remodelled, just where is Tails gonna stay?" asked Tikal.

"She's coming with me. No arguments." Shadow said, from the door.

"Unless you can get her to ARK, I don't think so." said Knuckles, free from his memory wipe.  
"Blaze, how did you and Marine get here?" asked Vanilla.  
"We came on the Ocean Tornado." Blaze answered.

"The ARK is just where I plan to take her." Shadow responded.

"ARK, all the way out in space, with no food, medical supplies, basic needs for a girl in Tails' condition or a way to get help if another attack happens? I'd rather Tails go to Blaze's home." said Vanilla.

Shadow growled at Vanilla. "I said no arguments!" He barked. Blaze took this chance to sucker punch Shadow. Then grab him and lift him by the cuff.  
"I've had enough of your bullshit temper Shadow; cool the fuck off before I seriously lay into your ass, because this macho act of yours is really beginning to piss me off!"

_Maybe he really does want to plow into Tails._ Thought Knuckles.  
"Well, does that mean I can't have my hard lemonade while I wait or a cast on my leg?" asked Rouge.  
"Well, I wanna see this Ocean Tornado." said Tikal.

Shadow then growled and began to spark, his anger rising again. Pulling his arm back to punch Blaze to the other side of the room, he stops as a glimpse of Tails frame hits the corner of his eye. He cools down at the side and simply makes Blaze let him go.  
"I have to go." He said, before turning to leave.

"Hardass... at least I'm useful." said Blaze.  
"Don't mind Shadow, he's in love." Rouge joked.

Shadow turns a glare to Blaze. "Heh, you know what, at lease you have proven your worth." He said. He ignores Rouge altogether and walks to the door. After leaving, a certain voice speaks up.  
"Seriously though, do you actually think Shadow does love Tails?" Amy asked, having woken.

"Probably so." Rouge answered.  
"He does need some action, doesn't he?" asked Dr. Quack as he dealt with Marine's ribs.

"His problem is dropping Maria from his head." Knuckles said.

"Rouge, you really should sleep with Shadow." said Tikal.  
"Make him a guest on your show and talk about it." said Rouge.  
"Maybe Sonic, but not Shadow."

"I see where Shadow is coming from though. He cared for Maria and watched her die. If I saw my Sonic die, it'd lead me to Celibacy too." Amy said.

"Didn't we watch him die before?" asked Rouge.

"Who? Sonic?" Amy asked.

"When did that happen?" asked Blaze.  
"Not sure... maybe it was just a nightmare." Rouge said.

"Or maybe a dream of when Shadow fell to earth, but the dream changed it to Sonic?" Amy suggested.

"Shadow really did fall to Earth."

"I know, but I'm suggesting that you dreamt it but....." And she sighs. "Never mind."

"My dream involved you and Sonic getting married, but he said no and you beat him to death at the altar." Rouge joked.  
Dr. Quack laughed. "Knowing Amy, she'd probably do that too." he said.

"Hey! I am not that bad!" Amy protested in frustration.  
"Yes you are." Said all others conscious simultaneously. Amy fell over.

Lavender flies to Vanilla. "Would you like my functions to give a closer inspection to Cream, ma'am?" She asked.

"Please." Vanilla answered.

"Please name a function."

"Internal scan."

"Processing." And Lavender morphs slightly to become a scan system, the top of her detaches from the bottom and lifts into the air. "Please take my head and you may use me to see what I can see." And the Lower body begins to scan Cream, the top, taken by Vanilla, shows her the information and actual scans of Cream as she looks her daughter over.

After the Scan Lavender reconnects herself together. "As you can see, most of the bruising should heal in a matter of days, the only real concern is the damage to her neck." Lavender says to Vanilla. "She has minor chest bruising, but that shouldn't do much but cause a little heartburn from time to time, which can be treated."

"I'm sure she'll be sorted once the doctor gets to her." Vanilla said. Lavender flies over to Dr Quack.  
"Anything I may assist with, Doctor?" She asked.

"Not for Marine at least." Dr. Quack replies. "I'm just finishing." And Dr. Quack finishes his 'magic' and patches Marine up.  
"Roger, Dodger." Lavender says.

"So, what's going to happen now?" asked Tikal.  
"Not sure. I guess it's back to the Ocean Tornado for me." Blaze answered.

"Oh?" Amy questioned.

"I'm gonna need to have a contractor deal with my club." said Rouge.

Knuckles stands. "Who's against Tails coming to Angel Island with me and Tikal?" He asked.

"I may have to stay with you for a while." Rouge answered.  
"Island time with Knuckles... no biggy on my end." Vanilla said.

"If worse comes to worse, we can take her to the Hidden Palace." Tikal said.

"Good thinking." said Knuckles.  
Dr. Quack went to examine Cream. "So, let's see what's up with your neck." he said.

"Scan's indicate no dislocation or cracks, however there is bruising surrounding the bone, which most certainly will cause effects of whiplash. The bone may be considerably fragile for a few days." Lavender says to Dr. Quack.

"No excess pressure on her spinal disks?" asked Dr. Quack.

"If avoidable." Lavender replies.

"I see."

"Suggesting a neck brace."

"Agreed."

Lavender then prints something on a small strip of paper from a slip in her front, which Quack takes.  
"Those are the measurements required for optimum efficiency and comfort." Lavender said.

Dr. Quack read the measurements on the strip. Afterwards, Dr. Quack went to his suitcase and took out the materials needed. The doctor braced Cream's neck, then went to Rouge's aid, placing a splint on Rouge leg. After this, Dr. Quack attends to Tails.

"This is a lot of crap going down, but it's worth it." said Blaze.

"How so?" Tikal asked.

"Tails would do the same for us, so why not sacrifice for her? This is love, love that she will need to get over her rape and recovery. Every little bit counts."

"I would like a hard lemonade now." said Knuckles.  
"No hard lemonades, hard drinks in general, or anything not a virgin drink." said Dr. Quack as he worked on Tails.

"What else is there?"  
"Other than strong liquor, water and strawberry fizzy, nothing." Tikal said, looking through the intact drinks.

Lavender flew over to Gmerl and hovered around him a little, before spraying him with something and taking a brush and begins polishing him.

"That better not damage my alloy." said Gmerl.

"Negative." Lavender replied as she gave him a gentle scrub down. After she was done, he sparkled, good as new. "Would you like a fresh paint?" Lavender questions him.

"Black will do nicely... with a bit of rust gold."

So Lavender retreats to her large box, which had a few more compartments not just for the medical services. She took some equipment and changed her drill arm compartment, equipping said paints; she flies back over and carefully replaced his paints.

"Well, Tails seems fine, but has only passed out." said Dr. Quack.

"That's good." Tikal sighed in relief.

Lavender flies over to Dr. Quack. "According to my programming, due to the data levels on many of the injured present, I'd suggest taking them to rest in a medical centre, Marine, Cream and Rouge especially." She says.

"Noted." and Dr. Quack stood up. "Okay everyone; let's find some material to get Marine onto and get her lifted to the hospital. The same for Cream and Tails."  
"Hey, what about me?" asked Rouge.  
"I'll help you walk without putting pressure on that broken leg." said Tikal.

Lavender flies over to the medical centre of hers and presses a button on the bed, it detaches and using a strong fan-system, begins to hover in the air, much like Lavender, she equips herself to the far end of it and flies it to Marine's side, lowering it to ground level.

"If Shadow didn't walk off in a sulk, we could have used his Chaos Control." Knuckles moaned. "Anyway, I'll carry Tails."

"Let's find materials to carry Cream and Marine."

After scampering around, some of the girls find a piece of wooden debris and check it's sturdiness. After making it more comfortable with intact cushions, they take it over to Cream and carefully get her onto it, whilst Vanilla and Dr. Quack are careful with putting Marine on the hoverbed. Tikal goes to assist Rouge and Knuckles pulls Tails onto his back. Vanilla and Gmerl lift up the wooden lift with Cream on and all are set to go.

"Okay people, let's watch the debris and get everyone safe and sound." said Dr. Quack.

"Roger dodger!" Lavender says as she lifts off carefully, Marine sinking into the bed as she lifts up. She then carefully navigates out of the club as everyone follows. Once getting out of the club, they move around the debris outside.

It takes a little while, but they get everyone to the hospital and with help from nurses, into proper bedding. Vanilla approaches Dr Quack.  
"Everyone is okay, right? There's nothing too concerning, is there?" She asked him.

"Probably Marine, but it's best to get the injured to the hospital for a more advanced look at things." answered Dr. Quack. "Not that I doubt the hoverbed medibot..."

"Tails is truly a technical genius to come up with that machine." Vanilla replied.

"Yeah, but I think it's because she never leaves the lab so much."

"In all fairness, we owe a lot to the little bot, so, despite the fact Tails spent a lot of concealed time on it, it's a good thing this time at least."

"I hope things get better for everyone. The last thing we need is our three young girls in the hospital for too long." said Tikal.

"Yeah, it nearly drove Tails AWOL last time." Amy replied.

"Okay everyone, let's give Cream, Tails and Marine a rest." said Dr. Quack. "They need to recover, so let's all leave them be." And so everyone, Lavender included, leaves the room. Lavender then retracts into a pod and clunks to the floor in standby.

Rouge was in the other room, leg up and watching TV. "Well, I better figure out how I will deal with my club." she said as she flipped channels.

Knuckles entered the room. "Hey, how're you holding up?" He asked.

"My leg is broken and my club is in ruins." Rouge answered. "So aside from having my pride hurt, I'm fine."

"At least you're still alive." Knuckles sighs. "I feel a little responsible, so I'll help you out in the rebuilding." He says to Rouge.

"At least Tails is alive. But I wonder where she's gonna go now."

"She'll come to Angel Island with me." Knuckles replied.

"Not much of a choice now. At least you're on guard in their room."

"Well, I'm gonna keep watch tonight. Get some rest. You'll need it for the contractors."

Meanwhile, Vanilla got a phone call on her mobile from the speed machine himself.  
"Hey, Vanilla. What's going on with Rouge's place? I went to your house and no ones in and Rouge's is totalled. Where is everyone? Is everyone okay? No one was hurt were they? What happened?" Sonic asked, somewhat panicked.

"Eggman attacked Rouge's club with a robot." Vanilla explained. "Rouge has a broken leg, Marine's ribs broken, but away from puncturing her lungs, Tails and the rest took a few bumps and bruises and Cream's gonna be in a neck brace for a while, but no one died."

"Damn it!" And the phone went thud as it was clearly tossed aside. After a few moments of silence it was picked up again. "Of all times for me to be out of the picture, I guess I'll get blamed again for not being around. You're at the hospital right?"

"We are and you won't get the blame. I made sure that bot was totalled."

"Not the point, Vanilla. I wasn't there to help." Sonic replied.

"You act like everyone can't hold their own without you. People get banged up and bruised, but everyone gets up and tries again. You can't be there to save everyone, and your current state can't be helped."

"If that's the case, tell everyone to stop nailing into me about not being where I am needed." And Sonic disconnects.

Vanilla shook her head. _Sonic still hasn't gotten over things yet. I guess he needs more time._ Thought Vanilla.

After a little while, Vanilla hears weeping from the room where Marine, Tails and Cream are.

Vanilla goes into her room and sees the source of the weeping. "Nice to see you awake." she said. "Taking the time to vent?"

"Everyone keeps getting hurt because of me." Tails cried. "Look at these two, and it's my fault."

"This was Eggman's fault, not yours." Vanilla corrected. "People love you, Tails. And you should be happy to know that there are people who care about you. We're willing to die for you, just like you would die for us.

"Mutual love is important, so don't feel so bad."

"Everyone could have died today and it's because that robot wanted me. I don't like watching them get hurt." Tails spoke, trying to dry her face in vein.

"No one does, but it's a part of life. By the way, I just got off the phone with Sonic. He wanted you to know that he loves you and is currently working on something special."

"H-huh?" Tails questioned, looking over to Vanilla. "H-He is?"

"Of course, but he wants to keep it a surprise."

"Oh, I see...wow." Tails replied. Then cheered up slightly. "I wonder what it could be?"

"He didn't say, but it's probably something good. This is Sonic, you know."

"Yeah." Tails replied. It appeared another mood swing had cut in as she perked slightly. "Hey, Vanilla, would you adopt me? Cause you'd make an awesome mother since that whole Gmerl armour thing." She joked.

"You already are part of the family, just not my son anymore." and Vanilla rubbed Tails on the head. "Didn't I tell you things would turn out okay?"

Tails rubs her own stomach. "That's still to come though..." She said.

"You'll be fine, granted you rest up."

"I will. But I'm kinda excited now. You have me curious with Sonic's big surprise." Tails began to ponder and Vanilla could almost see the gears moving in her head.

"At least you feel better." and Vanilla kisses Tails on the cheek. "Now get some sleep, if not for anyone else, that baby of yours."

"I wonder how big I'm gonna get." Tails pondered.

"Wonder when the day comes."

"Yeah, okay." And Tails lies back and covers herself up, giving her face one more dry off, she gets comfortable. "Thanks, Vanilla."

"Sleep well, dear." and Vanilla left the room.

Amy see's Vanilla come out of the room.  
"Everything okay?" She asked.

"Tails is excited, Cream and Marine are still asleep, but Rouge feels her pride was hurt." Vanilla answered.

"Excited?"

"About being alive after the attack. Motivational speeches are a requirement for being a mother."

"I see." Amy said.  
"Well, some rest is all they need. We'll come back tomorrow, I think we all need a good sleep. Knuckles is watching over things tonight." Blaze said.  
"No he's not, he's also resting. This time, it's my turn to watch over." Said a voice from the door. The girls turn to see the owner.  
"Sonic! You're here!" Amy squealed.

Sonic shows up with his casual smirk. "Well, I needed some thinkin' time." he always had the proper wording when things were tight.

"Well, I'm too tired to glomp you right now Sonic. I know how much you must miss it, but I need to go and sleep." Amy yawned.

"Get going, I can see your chicken feet."

Amy nearly fell over. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"All that consciousness about beauty and you don't know about chicken feet?"

"Get in the room, Sonic." said Vanilla.

Sonic enters the room and sees Tails laying down in bed. He shakes his head as he sees her laying there. _Tails has always been strong, she'll pull through this._ He thought.


	10. Chapter 10

Tails was all snuggled up and trying to sleep, after Vanilla had left, she didn't even notice Sonic had come in. Everything was all good until she had a random itch on her leg. She curled up to scratch it and when she stretched out afterwards, she saw Sonic in the corner.  
"Oh, heya Sonic. Didn't see you there." She said.

Sonic smiled at the fox. "Good to see you're all right." he said.

"Been better, been worse." She replied. "I hear you're preparing something special for me. I can't wait to see what it is." Tails grinned coyly.

"Well you'll have to wait and eat properly for that." said Sonic. "I've been hearing you pulling that anorexic crap as of late."

Tails pouts. "What's that supposed to mean!"

"You've been eating for the girls, then puking your guts out. Only anorexic basket cases do that, and you need to eat your brain food."

"It's not my fault I was forced a chilli dog." Tails continued to pout.

"Well, at least you're drinking your milk... however, you should stick to the carton instead of the 'big boy cup' until your reflexes sharpen. You got it all over your chest."

Tails then blushed furiously before lifting her covers up and covering herself completely.  
"Uhh...yeah...um...s-silly me..." Tails then gave a nervous laugh. "I'll be careful from now on." _Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Why now of ALL times?!_ Tails cursed in her mind.

Sonic hands Tails a nearby towel _She really must be worn out from the fight._ he thought. "So, Vanilla tells me you and the girls got pretty banged up. But you did well on your own."

"I didn't really do anything at all." Tails replied. "Except cower and nearly give up. I would have been taken if Gmerl didn't show up and save me." She lowered her ears sadly.

"No offense Tails, but this isn't one of your hero moments. And wipe the milk up, huh?"

Tails gives herself a quick clean off and ponders to herself. _Should I tell him? _She wondered. _I...I dunno how he'll take it...Sorry Sonic; I don't have the courage to tell you._ "So...um....Where have you been all this time. I felt like you were avoiding me."

"You know me, running around." and Sonic walks over to Marine. "Her ribs are wrapped up pretty well. Marine was always a careless girl..." He then turns back to Tails. "So Gmerl totalled the robot? Vanilla said she did that..."

"She did. Marine wasn't careless, she was defending me. She just took some...nastier blows than others." Tails replied. "Vanilla wears Gmerl like armour, I feel kind of silly not coming up with that myself, yet I need to know how Vanilla knew to do that."

_Gmerl like armour, what'll they think of next?_ "You know Tails, I'm reminded of two things right now."

"Oh?"

"Yup. The first thing is when I saw Amy taking the pill. She was shocked when I found her birth control by accident, but it was funny to see the greatest malfunction ever. Do you know what that was?"

"Um...no, but I'm curious as to what's made you think of this."

"Amy got that weird side effect of the birth control pill. It's a rare case, but sometimes when girls take birth control, their hormones imbalance and it causes them to lactate."

Tails sweat drops. _Oh dear god..._ She thought. "Oh."

"Seeing milk dribble from her boobs was a highlight of my day that time. Now the other thing on my mind was when we had our talk when we encountered the Nocturnus before meeting up with Rouge.

"In both cases, you and Amy told me a similar thing. You told me about 'having to grow up' as a response. Now is just another one of those instances where you have to grow up."

"Oh..."

"Everyone has to grow up, but we all grow in different forms: You grow by tinkering with G Amy grows by using the pill instead of getting a shot of depo. Hopefully should you start on birth control, you'll do the depo shot. No lactating side effect like Amy and you take one every three months."

Listening to this was really beginning to get to Tails, he's telling her ways of contraception, but it's long since too late for her anyway. The tears well up in her eyes and she lies back and lifts the covers over her head, curling up underneath them. "Whether or not I go on birth control is none of your business, Sonic..." Tails said from under the quilt.

"True, but I should mention it since I'm your big bro and all. Anyway, I grow up by running and losing myself in thought. It's not that I was avoiding you, and I'm sorry if it appeared that way, but I needed some time to think... and to grow. Having to forget about the hells you've been through these past weeks... in learning from this beatdown that everyone got, is part of growing up. You may say you were about to surrender and walk over peacefully, but you were probably just baiting yourself to let your enemy's guard down. Too often does that happen and actually work.

"The point is, I won't always be able to... 'rescue you guys' so to speak, but it just means that you need time to grow and build on self-reliance. If not learning how to band with each other and kick some ass." and Sonic chuckled. Tails doesn't reply.

"I'll always support your choices, but you have to take the time to laugh at yourself. A wise man once said, 'If a person can't learn to laugh at their own misfortune sometimes, you will never be able to heal faster or grow.' I know I'm teasing you, but at least laugh at yourself sometime."

"Laugh at myself for my own misfortune......" Tails repeats gloomily. ".....Good night, Sonic..."

"Tails, you'll feel better this way. Trust me." But those last words weren't heard as Tails fell asleep. "Cream, Marine, You two girls better look after Tails, she's gonna need you. I have a feeling there's something she wants to tell me... But I won't throw her out of context. Tails isn't talkin', so I won't push her. She'll let me know in time. Well, rest up girls, you deserve it." Sonic takes a chair and has a sit.

This was a hard time for everyone, Tails included. But this seemed to be only the beginning of Tails' worries. The good news for her was that she was released on Sunday along with Cream and Rouge was released that evening with a cast and crutches and Marine had to stay until Monday. The bad news was that time was starting to become a hindrance to the fox. She is currently two and a half weeks and is currently pudgy. But at least she's not hurling her guts and eating food. Tails was now alone in her quarters and looking at herself in the mirror.

"Tails, are you in there?" Tikal called from the door. "Are you awake or getting ready?"

"I'm awake, but not getting ready yet..." Tails replied. "The door is open."

Tikal walks inside. "Hey, when are you gonna get ready to go?"

Tails turns to her side looking in the mirror. She narrows her eyes slightly. "I feel fat..."

"That isn't the case."

"Pudgy then, if you didn't know, would you tell I were pregnant from how I look?" Tails asked.

"You've gained a few pounds, and you're eating more, so probably not."

"I'm not taking chances..." Tails said, she then began digging through what things she had. Tikal sweat dropped as she saw all sorts of clothes and other 'female' things flying around. _She's becoming more like a woman every single day. Scary..._ She thought. "Got em!" And Tails began changing into somewhat large clothing. "A pudgy belly calls for pudgy clothes!"

"So you went 'plus size' shopping?"

"Maaaybe..." Tails dragged. "I took precautions, there are still some who don't know and I don't want them guessing."

"You can't keep this up forever, Tails. And besides, you shouldn't be stressing like this since you've just come out of the hospital on Sunday."

"I know but...." And Tails sighs, looking at Tikal. "This isn't as easy as you think it is. I can't just go up to Sonic all willy-nilly going, 'Hey Sonic, how are things, oh by the way, I'm pregnant, chances of that huh?'" Unfortunately for Tails, Knuckles had walked into hearing distance of that.

"Early morning comedy isn't your forté, Tails." Knuckles said and stood in front of the door.  
Tikal shook her head. "Knuckles, wait away from the door, will you?" asked Tikal.  
"Sure, how come?"  
Tails saw Tikal leave her quarters, heard a whisping sound, then Tikal walked back in. "Get dressed, we'll be having breakfast in a few minutes." said Tikal.

"Uh...sure." Tails said, she then scurried around and continued to change into her oversized clothing. Despite the fact she believed she'd look ridiculous, the clothes didn't look all that bad, they wouldn't rise too much suspicion and she actually looked quite good.

Tikal left the room. _Tails, you better muster up courage and let this out of the bag, because there may come a time where I can't wipe someone's mind or someone will leave that stupid memory hat of Marine's at home._ she thought.  
"What's going on, how is Tails doing?" asked Knuckles.  
"She is waiting for us to finish making breakfast." Tikal answered.

*

"So, what do you girls have planned for today? I hope it's nothing too exhausting." Knuckles opened the conversation. Tails just ate her food, not replying to the question, hoping Tikal would do so.

"Not sure... we'll probably take things slow." Tikal answered.  
"You better, the last thing we need is Tails going back to the hospital outside of getting her prescriptions."

"I'll be careful." Tails replied. "We could meet up with some of the other girls. Here, found this the other day. I forgot all about it till I came about it in my room." And Tails throws a small leaflet of some sort onto the table to Tikal. "It starts later this afternoon I think."

Tikal looked at the leaf. "A fashion show?" she questioned.  
"That sounds interesting." said Knuckles.  
"You wanna go to someone else's fashion show, but you don't wanna model in mine?"

"I was asked?" Tails questioned, tilting her head.

"I knew she forgot about that fashion show idea."  
"She did pass out after that ordeal with Madness, so let it go." said Knuckles.

"More information please." Tails said. "All I remember is you trying to convince tiny-titties to model for you. I don't recall a fashion show..."

"Modelling usually requires a show... Oh forget it. Let's go see if Rouge is willing to come. She said that she'd stay aboard the Ocean Tornado until the club is back to normal."

"And if I were to say I was interested, then what?"

"Interested in modelling?"

"Why not? It's a much better idea than being dragged over here to be forced into watching a porn stash." Tails replied.

"Knuckles?!" Tikal yelled.  
"What, it was only Booty and the Beast." said Knuckles.

"What do you mean **only**!?" Tails questioned. "You showed off several quite disturbing pieces of material." Tails then coughed. "And being the only non-erect person in the room was extremely uncomfortable, for reasons you might understand at this point."

"Non-erect in the crowd, but not in the bathroom." Knuckles shot back. "You had no problems when we saw Tikal's porno."

"You think I went to the bathroom to get off? Boy do you have it wrong, I was too busy puking up that cream soda, I don't even wanna remember that...And Tikal...what the hell?" Tails replied. "Rouge I can expect, but you took me completely off guard, that was some disturbing stuff."

"We should just let things go now about porn." said Tikal. "I want to go check on Cream too before we hit up this fashion show."

"Yeah, sure." Tails replied. She shifted her body and felt a cold sensation in her chest. "Um, can you excuse me a moment?" She asked.

"Go ahead, but no throwing up." said Knuckles. "Sonic told me about that anorexic diet of yours."

"I just need a 'leek', Knuckles..." And Tails left the table and headed to her room, she went in, picked up Rouge's 'non-miracle cure' and snuck it to the bathroom.

Back at the table, it had passed way too long a time for Tails to simply be using the loo.  
"Uhh...What's Tails doing? It doesn't take me this long to piss, and I know you don't take that long either." Knuckles asked.

"Well, your insides weren't torn by a robotic tentacle." said Tikal. "Besides, she has to probably administer that one prescription drug down there."

"Hm, point taken." Knuckles said as he took a large bite of his food.

*

Tikal knocks on the door of the throne. "Dealing with your meds in there?" she asked. The door opens and Tails comes out with a container of milk.

"Sort of..." She said. "I need to change tops."

Tikal looks at Tails' chest. "Still hiding the rack too."

"Would you like everyone to look at you every time your nipples lactated? Oh wait, you don't have any." Tails replied.

"You may want to use a better choice of words, Tails."

"Why? Did I cause offence?" Tails then lowered her ears. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

Tikal began to whisper into Tails' ear. "We don't have Marine's memory machine here and I can only wipe Knuckle's mind one more time. So unless you plan on letting him in on things before we leave... use better words."

"Oh...I see..." Tails said. "But you see my point, no?"

"Milk patches do lactate."

"Huh?"

"Echidnas have milk patches instead of nipples."  
"Hey, hurry it up, I have to use the can!" Knuckles yelled.  
"Let's get you 'harvesting' in your quarters." said Tikal.

"I emptied." Tails said. "But, I should store this out of sight."

"That's both of them?"

"Believe it or not." Tails holds another container, fill to the brim. "Oh, and this one..."

"Let's go." and the girls leave from the bathroom. "Can's free, Knuckles!"  
"Thank god." Knuckles said and hits the can.

Tikal and Tails relocate to her room and Tails puts the containers safely out of view. "Oh, don't let Rouge know of these. She still weirded me out when she told me to save her two cups of it..." Tails said to Tikal.

"Save me a container, I can cook with it." Tikal joked.

Tails looked over her shoulder. "Please tell me you're joking..."

"On the cooking part, yes. But I would like to examine it."

Tails takes a container over to Tikal. "Suit yourself. It's not like it's going to do anything but be thrown away anyway." Tails passes Tikal the milk. "Why is everyone so keen to get this?"

"Not sure about Rouge, but I want to examine it. Also, save some for Dr. Quack to look at." and Tikal put her portion of Tails' milk away. "And you shouldn't toss your milk out, you can always freeze it."

"And if Knuckles happened to check the freezer?"

"Not my freezer, he can't access it."

"Oh, well in that case..." Tails walks over to her bed and pulls a box holding about 7 or 8 containers. "This is what I've 'stored' so far that should still be good."

_Damn, I didn't think Tails could produce so much._ Tikal sweat drops. "When did that leave your body?"

"Over the past 4 days...The rest went bad, so I flushed it."

"You must've done some serious pumping in the hospital. How did you hide it from Cream and Marine?"

"I don't like it to be referred to as that...that sounds weird and in all fairness, Lavender has more uses than just flying around and looking cute. I had her returned to the lab to pick up another storage system which is just another of her 'bodies'." Tails replied. "That, and I did it during 'nap time'."

"Thank goodness she isn't here..."

"Who? Lavender?"

"Yes."

"What's wrong with Lavender?"

"Aside from being a way of finding your location... nothing. So one day of hospital action and the rest here..." Tikal looked at the previous jars and it took her aback. "Whoa, none of this is good, might as well dispose of it."

"Oh well."

"Lemme know when you have a 'bust moment' from now on."

"Why? Are you making a collection?"

"Well, I am the oldest of the crew."

"No, it'll give me a chance to make an alibi for you in case you attract some unwanted attention."

"Oh, gotcha." Tails replied. "You know, despite the fact you were the last to know of my gender, you've been a great help with this whole...other issue...and I thank you for that."

"It's got nothing to do with age." Tails replied.

"So, are you ready to grab the other girls?"

"One second." And Tails changes her top clothing. "Now I am."

"Okay Knuckles, we're out of here. Have fun!"

Only disturbing noises of grunting can be heard, so the girls just leave. "I guess he's having trouble..." Tails uttered.

"Everyone needs to shit."

"Indeed." Tails said. "Let's go."

Tails and Tikal walk through the busy streets of Station Square. "Sooo, Cream's first?" Tails asked.

"Yup, then we'll grab Amy." Tikal answered.

"Why don't I just call Amy and have her meet us there?" Tails asked.

"You can make some calls too when we're at Cream's."

Tails takes a mobile and speed dials Amy. She places the phone on her ear and waits, but she just went into answer phone and hung up. "Odd..."

"What happened?"

"No answer...Amy always answers..."

"Is she busy?"

"Probably. She must be tied to a tree to keep her away from her phone." Tails replied. Tikal laughs. "How do you think I got her number in the first place? I only got it because she gave it to Sonic so they could 'always be together even when apart.' However, he just had me install a tracking device to the number so that he would know where she is at all times." Tails explained.

"Wow, Sonic has anti-Amy security on his phone... too bad he doesn't keep his phone on him."

Tails pulls Sonics' phone from her pocket. "Tell me about it. He got sick of her phoning." Tikal shook her head. _Wow, that is a real shame..._

"Oh well." Tails said. She takes the collar of her jumper and shirt and pulls it forward, looking down at her stomach. "Pudgy..."

"Still think it's not going to work?"

"What?"

"Your growing baby."

"I am very scared and fragile at the moment..."

"Well, let's do our thing." said Tikal as the girls reach the door and gives three raps.

They were surprised to find it was Amy who answered.  
"Oh, hello girls." She said.

"Where's Cream?" asked Tikal.

"In the living room watching television." Amy replied. "Come on in, Vanilla went out for the day and asked me to look after Cream."

"Let's do something fun." said Tikal. "Tails informed me of a fashion show happening later today."

"Oooh, interesting." Amy said. The girls entered the house and closed the door and walked into the front room. "Hey Cream, wanna go see a fashion show?" Amy asked the young doe.

"A fashion show, why not?" Cream replied.

"Anyone else wanna opt in for Tikal's fashion show also?" Tails joked.

"Don't look at me, Mom won't let me model." Cream answered.

"Hmmm...." Tails pondered. "I'll see if I can sway her opinion."

"Anyway, let's get Blaze, Rouge and Marine in on this fashion show deal." said Tikal. "We need another girl's day out."

"Sounds like a plan." Amy said.  
"So long as it doesn't turn into another 'let's dress up Tails' day, I'm fine." Tails replied.

"We'll save that for another day." said Tikal.

"I don't know if that's a consolation or not."

"Well, let's get going then, I'll grab my keys and we can hit it." said Cream.

So the girls grab up stuff and head on over to the City Docks, with medial chatter on the way.  
"So, Cream. How's your neck doing?" Tails asked.

"Still sore, but otherwise fine." Cream answered. "I can't wait to take this accursed brace off though."

"Time heals most wounds."

"Let's see if time has healed some broken bones." said Tikal.

"Time heals all wounds." Amy corrected.  
"What?" Tails questioned.  
"The saying goes 'Time heals all wounds.'"  
"Not mine...It's just making it bigger..." Tails replied poking her belly a bit.

Tikal shook her head. _There she goes giving herself away again._ she thought.

Amy walks up next to Tikal and whispers to her.  
"Tails probably won't say so I'll ask you, but how's her gut doing now?"

"Her gut isn't the problem, Amy." Tikal whispered back. "At least she's using her prescriptions, so things seem to be fine."

"That's good."

"Wonder how Marine is doing." Tails pondered.

"Yeah, she got pretty messed up in the fight." added Tikal. Tails lowers her ears slightly.  
"Don't you start doing more of 'that's my fault' crap, Tails." Amy said to her.

The girls managed to find the Ocean Tornado and board the vessel. "Man, look at this ship. It's pretty grand." said Tikal.

"Yeah." Amy added. "Wonder if the girls are here."

Blaze suddenly walks out and notices the company. "This is...unexpected." she said.

"Is it wrong to come see you here?" Tails asked.

"No, not at all, I enjoy the company."

"Good, we're gonna go to a Fashion show, and we want you and Marine to come with us." Amy said.

"Fashion show, what about me?" in comes Rouge. The versatile bat flew down before them, landing crutches first. "Some nerve forgetting about me. I need a bit of cheering up too."

"Actually, we were gonna hit you up next." Tails replied.

"What a nice view. I know it's just the docks, but this feels incredible." said Cream.  
"Tails really knows how to build things from scratch, huh?" asked Rouge.  
"You built this from scratch?" Cream was rather impressed.

"Uh huh, after Sonic and Blaze collected certain materials, it wasn't too hard to do." Tails replied.

"Maybe I can bring you some stuff and you can build a ship for me." said Tikal.

"Not anytime soon." Tails replied.

"No, later."  
"Anyway, back to that fashion show. I want in on going." Rouge said.

"All are welcome." Tails said. "Where's Marine anyway?"

"In the captain's room, Tails." Blaze answered. "Go ahead and visit her, maybe you can cheer her up."  
"She's not as energetic as usual?" asked Cream.  
"No. Marine's borderline gloomy."  
"You act like that's a bad thing." Rouge joked.  
"That last time I broke her feelings, she ran away and got into trouble. So I would like to avoid that now, especially in her condition."

Tails leaves the group and heads inside on her own. After getting to the captains room, she knocked on the door.

"Crewmate Tails reporting for duty!" she called to Marine. No real response was heard, but the fox managed to catch a few mumbles. "Marine?"

This caught the other girls' attention. "I better go for a swim." offered Blaze.

"Huh? Why?" Amy questioned.

"Not sure, just a gut feeling."  
"Tails, just go in the room." said Tikal. _She better not have jumped out of the window._ thought Blaze.

Tails shrugs and opens the door slowly, letting herself in. "Hello? Captain Marine?" She asked as she walked in. Marine was standing there, looking out the window of her quarters. She wasn't wearing her green tube top, but her taped bandages covered her upper body and there was no response from the raccoon. Tails ponders the situation for a moment. "Marine? Are you okay?"

Marine sighed. "You know, it's rude to enter the captain's quarters without permission." she finally replied.

"Indeed, but neither me nor Sonic were that good at keeping to routine orders." Tails replied. "And I'd rather have a response like that than none at all."

"I guess I have been sailing without a map. Close the door, please?"

Tails does as ordered and closes the door. "What do you mean?"

"I feel bad, not being able to protect you. A captain's job is to make sure that her crew should never feel so much danger. Blaze said that it couldn't be helped, but I guess I can't go without feeling bummed out."

"At least you did some good, Marine." Tails replied. "I mean, what did I do to defend myself? Nothing."

"Perhaps, but I saw otherwise. Sure, you weren't at your best then, but you did make sure Omega was taken care of. You protected him, mate. Now Omega may not have a grateful sense in his processors, or memory banks, but you did defend someone."

"And you protected me. You did a lot more for me than I did for Omega."

"And whose gadgets made sure people got aid long enough to get to the hospital for important medical attention?"

"Who kept a robot long enough from taking me away so that Vanilla could come and total it? Who defended me in the back whilst I did nothing but cower? Who was the one who took weapon in hand and was the first to go after Omega to battle?" Tails countered. "As much as you won't admit it, you did more than you give yourself credit." Tails continued. "So I pre-built a med-bot repair system when I was bored and happened to launch it. And perhaps I did delay Madness from killing Cream long enough for Shadow to appear. But compared to you, I did virtually nothing." Marine snickered, then burst into laughter. Tails tilts her head. "Did I say something funny?"

"That's too funny. 'As much as you won't admit it, you did more than you give yourself credit.' It's true, mate. But I wasn't the only one that can describe to that line." Marine walked over to Tails, then began to kiss the fox as she wrapped her arms over Tails' shoulders. Tails took great surprise to this, not sure quite how to respond, though she did place her hands on Marine's sides.

This kiss lasted five minutes before finally breaking away.

"Wow...that was....unexpected." Tails said, still not sure quite what happened. _This is almost as awkward as Cream's request..._ She thought.

"What's wrong, don't like gratitude?" asked Marine.

"I do. I just didn't see it coming." Tails scratched her head. "But why do I get gratitude?"

"Because of what you said, or did you forget already?"

"Only speaking the truth, Marine."

"For both of us. Give yourself more credit than just 'I didn't do anything' Tails. You did what you could, so smile from it... even if you did get a lot of misfortunes from it."

"That sounds a lot like what Sonic was telling me a while back..."

"I see... by the way, I don't want to overdo these ribs, so I can't go to that fashion show. But that doesn't mean you can't take Blaze with you. Go get some R&R and bring me back a nice purse. Captains orders."

"Are you sure?" Tails asked.

"What is this, a mutiny?"

Tails took that a little badly, which was clear on her face. "Okay, well...any colour in particular?"

"Nope, but do enjoy yourself for a change. I'm tired of seeing you all mopey."

"Okay." Tails replied. She turns and heads to the door, she gives a glance over her shoulder. "Rest well, Marine, see you later." And she left the room, heading back to the others.

"So, what's the verdict?" asked Cream.

"Marines not coming. She doesn't want to overwork her ribs, so she's staying behind, but she was slightly unhappy before I went in. I think she's cheered up a little." Tails replied.

"Well, I guess I don't have to jump in the water now." said Blaze.

"Hopefully not."

"Well, I think I will leave you to your fashion show."  
"Oh no you don't, Blaze." Rouge said. "You're coming with us."  
"What, no. Someone has to look after Marine."  
"Marine's fine... and you need ideas on a wardrobe."

Tails lifts her sleeve and plays with her watch momentarily. "Marine said you're fine to come, Blaze." She said.

"Shall we go then?" Amy asked. Tails stops playing with her watch and nods.  
"I'm ready."

"And I have Blaze, so let's get to that fashion show." said Tikal.  
"No, I don't wanna go..." Blaze groaned.  
"Stop fussing, this is for Tails, not you."  
"Fine... if it's for Tails..."

The girls then leave the boat and leave the docks. They hear a bang behind them and turn to see a pod parachuting into the boat.  
"Tails...did you..?" Amy began.  
"I sent Lavender, yes." Tails replied.

"You really can't take the lab from this fox." said Rouge.  
"Apparently not." said Cream.

"Why would you want to?" Tails questioned.

Because you're under doctor's order on 'No lab work' young pup." Tikal scolded Tails.

Tails placed her hands behind her head. "I haven't done anything but set a location and remotely had my lab fire pods. It's not like I'm doing any serious lab work or anything that can be considered lab work. I haven't picked up a wrench in weeks."

"Well, this will save us time." said Cream.  
"Let it go, Tails needs to return to the groove and this is how." said Rouge. "Let's get aboard on into fashion already."

So the girls continue on to where the show is being held. Once there, they saw all other festivities going on.  
"Look at all the shops." Tails said.

"Ready for another day of shopping, are you?" Tikal asked and nudged the side of the fox.

"Why the hell have I become so feminine all of a sudden..." Tails uttered. "I never cared for shopping when pretending to be a boy..."

"There you go again with your words."

"What do you mean?"

"Ready to come out of the closet?"

"It's not like anyone heard me."

"We'll let Tails decide." said Blaze.

"Why me?" Tails questioned.

"Why not you?"

"And Tails takes a bat and knocks that comment right back at Blaze." Tails narrated.

"We can always dress you up in stuff you won't like again."

"Keep it to stuff that doesn't suck and I'm not fussed, but continue with that little threat and I'm taking off." Tails narrowed her eyes.

"Aw... look at you." and Blaze giggled for a change. "Now pick a place so we don't have you dragged off like normal." Tails points to a random shop.

Tikal looked at where her finger pointed. "Kinky Panty? I didn't know you were into that sort of deal." said Tikal.  
"That reminds me, I need to get some more whips... to interrogate people." said Rouge.

"And random pointing betrays me again." Tails sighs. "Oh well."

"I gave you a chance, but you had to pick the bondage shop." said Blaze. "Come on, girls. Foxy wants dominatrix."

Tails looks to the shop next door. "Oh god damn it!" She yelled.

"Something the matter?" asked Rouge.

"If I had pointed just a little more to the right, I would have been in heaven." She said.

"But you wanted to go to hell first. Into Kinky Panty."  
"Um... you go on ahead without me." said Cream disdainfully. "I'm not into whips, rope, plastic boots and masochism."  
"This is about Tails, not you Cream." said Tikal. "Show some support, even if it isn't your style."  
Cream sighed. "Fine, but just this once."

"In all honesty, I'm no more comfortable than you are, Cream. Something tells me that's a little late now." Tails said to her.

Cream had no reply. "Don't worry, I'll teach you how to work a whip." said Rouge.

As the crew approach the shop, Tails is knocked down by someone leaving the shop.  
"Oowww..." Tails moaned rubbing her butt.  
"Tails?" The person spoke. Tails looked up at the bird. _Oh shit... _"Of all people to see here, but you? Isn't this place a little girly for you? Never thought you were the gay boy."  
"Oh, Shut up Wave, why don't you go lay an egg somewhere?" Tails retorted.

"Now this is a real surprise." said Rouge. "I didn't think a Babylon Rogue would be in a place like this."

"I thought I'd have a look around, seeing this gay foxes true colours is the highlight of the day though. So who's the unlucky male to have you stalking them, hm?" Wave asked Tails. Tails stood up.  
"I'm out of here..." And Tails walked away.  
"Can't face the truth much, huh, Tails? The fact you're walking away only proves you like spooning. But what are you? The big spoon or little spoon?" Wave mocked, and then laughed. Tails stopped walking.

"You know what I think. I think you're mad because you have two dickless birds and neither of them is 'ruffling your feathers' so to speak." said Cream. "And just so you know, Tails is with me... we're just trying something new." Cream's tone turned embarrassed. "I'm not really into the whole kinky deal... but it's like the saying 'Don't knock it until you try it yourself.' That and I lost a bet."

"Lost a bet? Guess that's your fault for going beyond your own limits. Just so you know, Jet and I have a very solid relationship. And you're trying something 'different'? I always heard rabbits were natural born whores though." Wave mocked Cream.  
"Okay, that's it..." And Tails ran up to Wave, pushed her into the wall and stared at her angrily.  
"First off, at least Cream and I have something decent going for us unlike you and your so called great relationship with Jet, I know for a fact that unless he's cheating on you, he's screwing some swan. Then again, anyone would rather fuck a Swan than have you Swallow." Tails retorted. After some silence, Wave violently pushed Tails into a stall outside the shop, causing all the clothes and other objects to fall on top of her. Wave dusts herself off.

"Silly little fox said a bit too much than he can chew." She said. "How does the ground feel?"

The girls went to her aid, but Rouge decided to get in Wave's grill. "There better be an apology coming out of you." said Rouge with an irate tone.

"And if there's not?" Wave challenged. "What's a bat with crutches going to do? Limp me to death?"

"Why don't you say that to a certain black hedgehog who's right behind you."

"Like I'm going to fall for that 'look behind you' trick." Wave laughed.

"Perhaps you might want to give her the benefit of the doubt."

Thus Wave stopped laughing and began to sweat. "Heh...hehe..." _Fuck..._

Rouge moved away from Wave and Shadow. "Babylon tech has nothing on me." Shadow told the swallow. "Now let's get an apology... and hope and pray you're sincere enough to be forgiven. Especially since you threw the first stone. I'm not in the mood at the moment, and kicking your sorry cloacae will help me safely deal with some pent up frustration."

Wave then looked at Tails who was helped to her feet. _No way am I sucking up to that fox. _"Tails. I'm sorry...that I didn't push you over sooner." Wave said, walking away.

"Stuck up ass bird." and Shadow began to glow an angry red.  
"Let the drama queen walk off." said Rouge.  
"You okay, Tails?" asked Tikal.

"I actually feel quite dizzy..." Tails replied.

"Get some water for Tails."  
"Right." said Rouge.  
_Wait a minute, where's Cream?_ wondered Blaze.

Suddenly, Rouge heard faint ricochet sounds with her ears, followed by Wave falling to the ground. Then came a slamming noise to her ears as she stayed with Tails. "Well, rest assured that Wave got hers." she told Tails.

Blaze came back with a bottle of water. "Here you go, drink this." she said and handed Tails the drink.

"Thanks..." Tails said as she took the drink and drank it, sat on a box. "I'm not going in that shop now..."

Amy and Cream rejoin the girls. "Nice handiwork, girls." Rouge said only to them.  
"What handiwork?" asked Cream.  
"Exactly."

Why were you going into such a shop anyway?" Shadow asked.  
"I wanted to get a special tool, just for you Shadow." Tails replied. This caused Shadow to go red, but scowl, so whether he blushed or got angry was unknown.

"We can continue when you're ready." said Tikal.

"I'm not going in there." Tails replied.

"We'll wait, then try somewhere else."  
"Without randomly pointing this time." Rouge motioned.  
"Well, I better get going." said Shadow and warped out of sight.

Amy walks over to Rouge and whispers. "Okay, Tails _definitely_ has some effect on Shadow."

"Mmmm hmmm." Rouge agreed.

"Should we give them a little nudge?"

"Nah... Cream has her eyes set on Tails still."

"Hmm, true." Amy thought for a moment. "Would still be funny if we sent them letters from each other, just for reaction purposes."

"I'm gonna leave that one alone."

"I guess I am on my own then." Amy said.  
"I feel better now." Tails said.

"Well, let's get going then." said Tikal.

"Where to?"

"Let's go check out the area of the show." said Cream.

"Sounds good to me." Tails said.

The girls head to the runway and find good spots. "Look at how close to the catwalk we are... Nice eyes, Rouge." said Tikal.  
"Well, they helped too." said Rouge.

"Hey, some of the contestants are helping with th-....." And Tails came to a halt as she saw one of the contestants.

"Is something the matter?" asked Tikal.

"Vanilla..." Tails pointed.

"What?" and the girls looked. It was true, there was Vanilla talking with someone else on the stage, almost nearly out of sight.

"I guess Mom models in her spare time." said Cream with a sweat drop.  
"Too bad Marine had to miss this." said Blaze.

Tails takes out her phone and sets the video recorder. "Cream, I think I might have found a way to convince Vanilla otherwise about letting you model." She said.

"Maybe..."

"Let's look who else is here."

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, I trust you are all doing well." the girls heard the MC. "Normally, we'd be starting in about twenty-five minutes, but the anticipation is truly murder." Bystanders and clients laugh at this.

"Show's gonna start early." said Rouge.

"Indeed." Tails said.  
"Shamefully, one of the contestants had to drop out due to a nasty fall, but you know what they say, hard life. We still have 32 other contestants all dying to show off for you." The MC continued.

"Well, let's see what's up." said Blaze.  
"So without further ado, let's display the clothing line called SWEET." and with that said, the lights dimmed and the music began to play.

Tails opened the leaflet and saw contestant names, she got 5 names down and laughed. "Boohoo Wave." She said, before closing the leaflet and pocketing it.

"Yeah, serves her right." said Rouge.  
"With a breast like hers, she probably wouldn't look good anyway." said Tikal.

The music was starting to take its effect as the first model went down the runway.  
S is for sexy  
W's for woman  
E is for exciting  
E is for enticing  
T's for tantalizing  
What does it spell? SWEET!

Each of the girls had their fair say on the models. Some of the say was positive, some was negative, some was marginal and some... didn't need an opinion.

"Soda, who wants a Soda! Get your Soda's here!" Said a passing by drinks salesman trying to make profit.

So the girls get some soda and continue watching. More of the models came out to strut and the girls said their piece on them.

"Anyone have any standout favourites yet?" asked Rouge.

"Not yet." Tails replied. "Some have been pretty awful though."  
"I thought that last one looked pretty." Amy said.

"One was okay, but no favourites." Tikal answered.  
"Ditto that." said Cream.  
"I wanna see what Vanilla comes out in." said Blaze.  
"Me too." said Rouge.

More models came out to show their wares, including this one girl that was a plus sized model.

"Wow, that girl looks like she would make a good date for Big." said Cream.

"Which is disturbing." Tails added.

"She looks like she wants to fish." said Cream.

"Which, also, is disturbing..."

"Not as disturbing as picturing her baiting Big's worm." said Rouge.

"Okay, TMI T-M fucking I!" Tails barked.

Finally, Vanilla came out and showed her stuff in a red satin dress that fit her curves.

"I actually like that." said Blaze.  
"Too bad red doesn't do either of you justice." said Rouge.

"Would have looked better in blue." Tails said. She took her phone and took pictures of Vanilla.

"She needs more cleavage." Tikal pointed out.

"Uh huh." Tails replied, as she began drinking her soda. Vanilla left the stage and the next contestant came on, catching Tails eye, causing the poor fox to choke on her drink, then cough violently.

"Hey, are you okay?" Tikal asked in concern. Cream pat Tails on the back till she was a little better.  
"What the hell! Bernie?!" Tails spat out. On stage was Bernadette in a gorgeous, classic blue satin prom dress with a bustier styled bodice. The floor length dress is diagonally pleated under the bust line, flowing into a layered full skirt. The detail perfectly enhanced the bust and waist area. To add detail the dress is embroidered and beaded on the bust, the embroidery flows down the layer of the skirt and through to the hemline. The dress is completed with matching choker.

Rouge was shocked. "You know that woman, Tails?" she asked.

"Yes I do. That's Sonics' mother." Tails replied.

"That's Sonics' mom!?" asked Rouge, Blaze and Tikal.

"Without a doubt."

_Sonics' mom has good taste._ thought Cream.

"Of all people..." Tails rubbed her head. And to add to her surprise, the next contestant after Bernie was... "Sally is here as well?"

_If Sally's mother comes out next, I'm gonna be ready to leave._ thought Rouge.

Luckily, no other familiar faces appeared after Sally and Tails was still trying to calm after seeing Bernie. The first clothes had been shown and finished.

"Well, that was a definite shocker." said Blaze.

"Tell me about it..." Amy said. "I was completely speechless. If Sonic saw Sally's dress, I'd have competition."  
"You make it sound like you **don't** have competition already..." Tails countered.

Okay everyone, let's see SWEET's display of swimwear." said the MC.  
"I hope they have something that'll cover up what's her face." said Tikal.

"What's her face?" Amy questioned.

"You mean the Big Girlfriend wannabe?" Tails added.

"Yeah." Tikal answered.  
"Here they come." said Cream.  
This time around, the models had a different order and Vanilla was the third one listed to walk. However, that didn't happen. Once again, the girls gave their say on the models in their swimsuits and such.

"Stripes are so no go..." Tails said. "You're supposed to look 'sexy' not 'imprisoned.'" Tails commented at a random suit.

_Pools in a cell block, nice one._ thought Rouge.

"Hey, that one's thread is held together with gems, that's your kind of thing, isn't it, Rouge?" Amy asked.

"Gems are." Rouge answered. "But my chest would murder that one."  
"Just like that one time?" joked Cream.  
"At least I'm not afraid to wear a bikini."

"That one has a small bust line, shame her chest doesn't do it justice..." Tails commented to the next one.

"This coming from the one who hides." Tikal joked.

"Don't go there..."

"See, now that one I like." Tikal pointed at the next model. Her swimsuit was blue and the front wrapped around the neck, the fabric covered the breasts and down to the swim bottom. When she left, the girls saw a horizontal strap across the model's back.

"Interesting." Amy commented.  
"When is Vanilla showing up?" Tails asked.

Vanilla didn't walk out next, but Sonics' mom did. _That doesn't look good on her._ Blaze thought.

Tails covered her eyes. "Oh dear god, Sonic, I hope you're not seeing this..." She said.

And apparently, spectators shared the girl's opinions. They spoke upon themselves on how Bernie looked to them. Some liked it and some did not.

"It's like marmite; you either love it or hate it, no in between." Amy said.

Things got worse with the plus sized model came out. The music stopped and people even covered their eyes. "Wow, if she's coming out, put her back in." Rouge thought aloud.  
This caused others to laugh and had the model pissed off.

"You crutch holding bitch, I look good." she shot at Rouge.  
"No, you look like the blob in a bikini. That's a tragedy!" said Rouge and the clients agreed.

"Where are the zoo keepers with their sticks, shove her in a cage, do anything just get her out of my view. My eyes, they are tarnished and ruined with every passing moment." Tails pleaded.

"You think you would look better in here, let's see what you look like." said the model.  
Rouge managed to get on the stage. "Now I may be in a cast, but I'm sure the people would rather see me in that bikini than you." she said and the crowd whistled their approval.  
"Fuck you, bitch." and the plus sized model stormed off of the stage.

Tikal helped Rouge off the stage and the show continued. And at the end of things, Vanilla came out in her swimsuit. And it was... revealing to say the least, making the adult doe blush as she walked. Sure she was getting whistled at in approval, but...

"Damn, that's swimwear?" asked Rouge.  
"Tails, you're getting this on camera, right?" asked Cream.

"Every juicy second of it. This could be used as blackmail for several months....not that I would, mind you." Tails said as she recorded on her phone. Amy was just there gobsmacked.

_I never thought I'd see Vanilla wear something like this._ thought Blaze. _You wouldn't catch me dead or alive in that._

"Looks like I'm taking that suit back now that Vanilla's stolen my thunder..." Amy muttered. "Damn."

"Say something Amy?" Tails asked.  
"Me? No, nothing."

"That had to be embarrassing." said Tikal. "Either that, or Vanilla's looking to land you a new dad, Cream." and Tikal stuck out her tongue.

"That's if he can survive the trials." Tails said as Vanilla left stage. "Got and save!"

"Okay everyone." said the MC. "I've just been informed by security that we will be wrapping up our show early. So before we go, it's time to introduce our mistress of ceremonies herself. The promoter and designer of SWEET, give it up for... Ms. Honey!"

"Oh you are joking..." Tails sweat dropped.  
"Honey? Wasn't she the cat who got randomly kicked off the tournament list a while back?" Amy asked.  
"Yes, for reasons unknown..."

"Who?" asked Rouge.

"If it's who I think it is, Honey the Cat was supposed to enter a fighting tournament a while back, however, she was removed from the list unexpectedly." Tails explained.

"Is that so?" asked Blaze.

"Yup." Amy confirmed. And out she came, To Amy and Tails amazement, there she was. Honey the Cat and wearing her original red plastic fairy dress to boot. "And she hasn't changed a bit."

"Wow, that's an interesting outfit she has on." said Tikal.

Honey walked the catwalk like a pro model. She waved to the people as the cameras flashed at her and looked at the crowd. It was at that moment when Tails was spotted in her brown eyes, making her stop her walk. "Hold it, cut the music!" she exclaimed. The music then stopped and all attention was on Honey. "You," she pointed at Tails, "get up here; I wanna have a look at you."

Tails sweat dropped. "What interest would you have in me?" Tails asked.

"Plenty, now come on up."

Tails looked back and forth amongst the girls, shrugged and stood. With a spin of her tails, she flew up onto the stage, getting cheers as the city's known saviour. She looks at Honey.  
"What can I help you with?"

"Isn't this a little weird?" Amy asked the other girls.

"Who knows." said Tikal.

"Well, well, if it isn't Tails." Honey began as she circled the fox. "Look at you, still in all your glory as usual, hero."  
"I'm glad you noticed." said Tails.  
"I notice a lot. And as I look at you, I have noticed something very... interesting to say the least."  
"Well, I needed to come out of the lab."  
"No, not that. You Tails... you're a girl!"

Everyone gasped at this announcement, but the girls weren't as ecstatic. "What'll we do?" whispered Rouge.  
"I don't know." Blaze whispered.

"This isn't going to bode well..." Amy added.  
"I can't wipe all these memories either." Tikal added.

"What are you talking about, Everyone knows I'm a guy." Tails said.  
"You're a girl and I can prove it." said Honey.  
"You can do no such thing."  
"Believe me, I can prove you're female: Your bangs have a bit of volume to them, a refined volume to boot. Your whole do is like that; your stance gives you away as well. Not exactly Tails posturing, but marginal for a tomboy like yourself; your hips are a bit wide... and I can tell that from the baggy clothing you're wearing."  
"You can?"  
"Oh hell yeah.

"Next is your tail. Notice that I used the single vernacular instead of the plural one, people. The tail is too bushy, too much volume from it; you also had your tail surgically split in half, sewed up and filled with silicone. You heal from the scars pretty well and the silicone implants really look genuine; for a girl that looks like Tails, you really have one hell of a cosmetic surgeon."

Hearing this, Rouge and the girls silently sighed in relief. _Man, that was too close._ Thought Rouge.

"Everyone, I want all of you to know that this isn't your hero Tails, nor is this girl an imposter, she is obviously part of that Tails fan club I've heard about." Honey continued. "Then there are two matters that I also know. The first is the Teflon that you used to wrap around your chest to make yourself look flat."  
"Guilty." said Tails as her ears drooped down.  
"And the other thing I've noticed... is that you smell like milk."

Tikal's eyes widened. _Oh shit on a brick..._She thought.

The last part that was said by Honey brought gasps to the whole crowd. "Now when a girl smells like milk it means only one of two things..." Honey noted. "Either you bathe in milk to keep your skin healthy... which is something women do..."

Cream passed Marine's memory hat to Tikal without Amy noticing. "Well, a milk bath is healthy." said Tails.  
"It is, but not the case here. When a girl smells like milk and wears this type of clothing, it only means one thing." Tikal used a hold to knock Amy out, making her pass out before Honey gives off the other reason. _Memory wipe made easy._ Thought Cream as Tikal slipped the hat on Amy.

"You're pregnant." and the crowd gasped again. Rouge looked over to Amy and saw she had the memory wiping hat on her passed out frame. Tails felt so much shame that she simply hung her head.

"So young Tails fan, first off... bring that head up. A mother should never feel shame about being pregnant unless she's in an abusive environment." Honey said. "You aren't in an abusive environment, are you?"  
"No, I'm very loved." Tails answered.  
"I see, I guess the Tails fan is just sad that I found her out. Now, how about you tell me your name."

"My... name?" asked a sad and confused Tails.  
"That's right, tell me your name." Honey's tone was more calm.  
"I'm... I'm Miley." Tails said, not happy with the first name that came to her mind.  
"Miley... is that all?"  
"Miley Inari."  
"Well Ms. Inari, it's nice to meet you. And where might Miley Inari be coming from?"  
Tails was nervous. "R... Radical City." she responded.  
"Radical City? You truly are a dedicated Tails fan, Miley. It's a long way to get from Station Square to Radical City. And to be pregnant to boot, that is some real courage. So why are you so sad about being pregnant, Miley?"  
"I..." Tails was fighting back tears. "There are people that are close to me that don't know about this yet. And... and..."  
"Say no more. Everyone, it's obvious that Miley's talking about her parents. So I want to let Miley's family who is watching this fashion show right now to understand that Miley is very frightened, but is okay."

"This is being televised?!" Tails cried.  
"Of course." Honey answered. "And everyone back home in Radical City knows about your bundle of joy. But, they also aren't mad at you. You know why?"  
"Why?" and Tails was starting to cry.  
"Aw, come on, don't cry. You said yourself; you're very loved, so why would they be mad at you?"  
"I... I don't know."  
"Well dry your tears, because I'm going to help you out. We're gonna have a few confidence exercises right now."  
"We... we are?"  
"Yes we are."  
Tails dried her face. "I... I don't know what to say."  
"Of course not, but I will tell you. But first, let's all show our appreciation for Miley's courage everyone."  
And as a result, the crowd applauded "Miley" for being brave and it managed to stop her tears. "Now Miley, repeat after me." Honey said.

"I'll try." said Tails.  
"None of that, you have a baby on the way, and everyone here has your support, you can do this."

"You have a point." Tails said, still scared.  
Honey gave Tails a pat on the back. "We'll do it for your baby."  
"Okay... for my baby."  
"Now repeat after me. I am a strong girl."  
"I am... a strong girl."  
"I'm going to be a wonderful mother."  
"I'm going to... to be a wonderful mother."  
"My baby will be a very beautiful child."  
"My baby will be a very beautiful child."

"We are loved, now and forever."  
"We are loved... now and forever."  
"My baby gives me strength."  
"My baby... my baby gives me strength."  
"And I'm not afraid to be a mother."  
"B... but I am afraid."  
This causes a bit of laughter. "You can do it. I'm not afraid to be a mother."  
"I'm... I'm.... I'm not afraid... to be... to be a mother."

"See, you're very brave, Miley. All of us here and back home know you're scared, but we'll help you take the courage that is waiting for you. Now say it loud, 'I'm pregnant and proud.' Don't be scared, say it. Say it loud..."  
"I'm pregnant and proud."

"Miley, you can do better than that. Now, show us some more of that courage. Say it loud..."  
"I'm pregnant and proud."  
"_Much better._ Again, say it loud..."  
"I'm pregnant and proud."  
"Again."  
"I'm pregnant and proud!"  
"One more time for Radical City."  
"I'M PREGNANT AND PROUD!"  
"Give this girl a round of applause everyone, she's earned it."  
And everyone present showed their support for "Miley" with applause, cheering and whistles. Honey gave the peace sign with her right hand. "And to the rest of the mothers out there who are scared, who are doubting themselves, who think they are cursed, and who are feeling blue about their babies, remember to say it loud."  
"I'm pregnant and proud." Tails said, tears starting to fall.  
Honey gave Tails a hug. "Thanks a lot everyone, see you next time."

After such a heart-warming moment, Honey managed to get everyone into the back. Luckily, all of the models were gone. "_So this is Amy's new crew huh? Pretty decent._ What happened to her?" Honey asked as she pointed to Amy.  
"She fainted, but will be fine when she comes back around." Tikal answered as she had Amy's frame.  
"I have to admit, Miley. You're very dedicated... very dedicated indeed."

"Oh....really?" Tails questioned. She'd still not quite recovered yet.  
"Oh, can I ask a favour?" Tikal asked Honey. "Could we not mention this shocking pregnancy again, Amy can be a pain to carry around all day, you know how she is with sensitivity and all, you know, the shock that she believed she'd be first and all that."

"I guess so." said Honey. "There was another reason why I mentioned that one part, but didn't want to say. But I think I will get to know about our young mother here."

"What other reason?" Rouge asked.

"You're pregnant too?"

"Did I say that?"

"Of course you aren't. As for you, Miley, tell me about your pregnancy. Are you feeling a little better about things now?"

"Um...kinda, I guess..." Tails replied.

"Yeah, that's probably due to wearing that Teflon on your chest. Teflon is a good fabric, it sometimes is invisible... but not good for pregnant mothers. Your breasts must be in pain."

"Not particularly."

"Well, I disagree. Take all of that off, I have a hunch. Don't worry, I won't tell and we're all girls here."

"Uuhh..." And Tails blushes deeply. "Well, alright, if you insist." And Tails carefully removes her jumper.

_Let's see what Tails looks like._ Thought Tikal.  
_I wonder what her chest looks like._ Thought Cream.

Though she was a bit uncomfortable, Tails removed her Teflon and the unravelled material fell to the ground, letting the fox's chest expose itself. "Interesting, just as I thought." said Honey.

"What?" Tails asked.

Rouge just looked at Tails. _Looks like I'll get my two cups._ She thought.  
"So you're lactating too, another reason a girl will smell like milk." said Honey.

Tails picks up her jumper and reaches inside one of the deeper pockets, pulling out a container of milk. "Yes, guilty as charged..." She said.

Rouge grabs Tails and heads for the bathroom. "Excuse us." the bat said and carted Tails to the bathroom. Once inside, Rouge locked the door and Tails had nowhere to run. "Now, let's get that two cups from the source."

"Seriously...why?" Tails asked.

Rouge places the pump on the sink. "Honestly, I have a hunch on you." she said to the fox. "I have an assumption that the whole key to this misfortune lies in that 'white gold' of yours. Now, let's get that two cups from the source."

"Enlighten me Rouge, because I emptied this morning, chances of getting two cups yet are slim indeed..." Tails holds up the container she has. "And this is for my doctor to examine."

"Fine, even if you are dribbling away and won't even hook me up. Like I said, I want that two cups..." and she whispered to Tails. "Besides, I can't say much with Honey waiting for us."

"I have just been taken through one of the scariest moments of my pregnancy thus far and your request is a little too much for me right now." Tails said, her eyes watering but she fights back her tears.

"Fine, I'll wait until later. But let's get you cleaned up."

Meanwhile, Honey was with the other girls. "She's between a 32-d and a 34-c bust size." said Honey. "Luckily, I'm starting a maternity line and plan on giving Miley a few gifts to make her motherhood easier. I take it that I should include a breast pump."  
"No, she has one." said Tikal.

"Why are you helping so much?" Cream asked. "Just a wonder."

"Honestly, I'll break that part when she comes back." Honey states. "But even a woman on menopause can tell this is her first pregnancy."

As the sentence is finished, Tails and Rouge return to the room and retake their seats.  
"Sorry about that..." Rouge said.

"Miley, I wanna let you know something." Honey said. "That figure of yours is something else. Perhaps after you've healed from birth delivery, you would like to model for me."

"Um...I'll think about it." Tails replied.

"Anyway, what are you having?"

"Huh?"

Rouge pats Tails on the head. "Miley's being modest." Rouge said. "She doesn't really know yet, but feels she's having a girl, and even has the baby named Lavender."  
"Lavender, that's a nice name." said Honey.

"Lavender is my....oh never mind. Last time I was told, it was a grape. Haven't been contacted yet about going in to see my doctor yet though." Tails replied.

"We as women know what we will birth, the feel is a bond between mother and unborn child." said Honey. "In any case, I need you to hold still for the tape."

"Wha..?"

"Fine, just stay there." and Honey stood up then circled behind Tails. Afterwards, the measuring tape went around Tails' chest. She was slightly confused, but played along.

Afterwards, Honey looked at the ends. "Well now, you're a 33... and a d-cup to boot." said Honey. "So you'll probably wear a 34 bra."

"Um, okay." Tails replied.

"Also, I have a few things for you." and Honey pulled out two bags. "Here are a few things to make your pregnancy easier. A few baby things from my maternity line, like warm clothes for the new arrival in your life. Red in colour, so you can be proud of putting your first born in a neutral, passionate colour. The other bag has maternity clothing. A few skirts that'll stretch to suit your growing bundle... and swelling bust. A few nursing items and a few recipes to try out for the two of you."

Tails took the bags and looked at them momentarily before a mood swing kicked in and tears dribbled from her eyes.

"There you go crying again." said Honey. "No worry, there are tips on how to deal with that."

"R-really?" Tails cried.

"Yes. Now I better let you run along... and give those dresses a try."  
"Honey, you're very nice." said Cream.  
Honey laughed. "I may be wearing my fairy outfit, but I am an angel too."

"Thank you so much, Honey. You've been too kind today." Tails thanked her.

"Just be a brave girl and let your loved ones know that you aren't afraid of them or what they think. And enjoy yourself."

"Ye-yeah. I'll try."

"Run along girls, Miley should get in more walking time."

"Okay." Tails said, standing up. She bows to Honey in thank you, and after Blaze lifts Amy onto her back, the girls leave.

Honey watched them go. _Miley is the real Tails after all it seems._ She thought. _But at least everyone now knows that it's just a fan posing as their hero. The public isn't ready to understand Tails really being a girl. I know she'll do just fine._

As the girls walked the rest of the strip, "Miley" got a lot of congratulations and motivational words from the people... in addition to positive compliments about the cosplay. It truly brought a smile to her face. "Looks like everyone respects you now, Tails." said Rouge.

"Never been my own fan before, it's an interesting experience." Tails whispered to the girls.

"Let's also use this positive experience as a way to break the news to everyone else." noted Tikal.

"How's that?"

Suddenly, Cream got a buzz on the hip and looked at her phone. "Hey, it's a text from Marine." she said.

"Oh?" Tails pondered. "What'd she say?"

"It's says, 'Back to port U grlz. ~C4p74in M4rin3'. I hate that leet crap."  
"Feels like Amy's coming around." said Blaze.

"So Amy, you awake yet?" asked Rouge.

"What happened..." Amy moaned. "Where are we? What happened to the show?"

"The plus sized model came back and ruined things, so you didn't miss much." Cream answered.  
"Except Tails turning down the offer to model for her later." added Tikal.

"I never agreed nor turned her down." Tails replied.

"Anyway, Marine gave us a text to head back to the Ocean Tornado, so that's the scoop." said Rouge.

"I see...My head feels funny..." Amy said. "I feel like my brain got fried."

"What's Sonics' phone number?" asked Cream.

"There's no point giving it to you." Tails replied.

"Amy, what is Sonics' phone number?"

Amy opened her mouth to tell her, when Tails pulled her own phone. "Speed dial, Sonic." She said hitting the keys, moments later 'It doesn't matter' Theme plays from Tails back pocket. She takes the blue phone and puts it to her ear. "Hello? Oh, Hi Tails, still have my phone, huh?" She said.

Cream shook her head. "Tell him it's a false alarm." she said.

"I'm not in contact with him, Cream...he doesn't have his phone because I have it. And the reason I have it is because he keeps purposefully accidentally leaving it at my place. Eventually I just kept it." Tails explained.

"Enough, let's get to the Ocean Tornado." said Rouge.

"Why do you want to contact Sonic anyway?" Tails asked.

"It was to check and see if Amy's brain was fried." Cream answered. "And besides, I already have Sonics' phone number."

"I see." Tails replied. "You should see some of the pictures he keeps in here." Tails said looking through the pictures. "Hey Blaze, he has one of you. How embarrassing, why were you wearing poké-dotted panties?"

Blaze fell over. "Send me a copy of that." said Tikal.  
"I want one too." added Rouge.  
"Can we **please** get to the **fucking ship!**" yelled Blaze.

The girls continued walking, until Tikal's and Rouges phones went off. "Have fun girls." Tails said. _You're lucky you're pregnant, Tails._ Thought an irate Blaze.

"Hey, Tikal, Rouge. Have you two ever had a drunken kiss?" Tails asked.

"Don't go there, Tails." warned Rouge.

"Ahhh, okay. Send that one to Blaze." Tails grinned slyly.

_You're gonna get it..._ thought Rouge.

Tails walked over to Rouge and whispered. "Would 2 cups of milk make us even, since I'm still not comfortable about giving it to you, oh and by the way...I was just guessing, there's no such picture on this phone. But it's fun to know you **did** have a drunken moment."

"Tails, what's with the shopping bags?" asked Amy.

"Just some gifts from Honey. There's nothing you'd like to know of though." Tails replied.

"I see. So whose bra is that on the ground? It looks like the cups detatch from it and those bras are usually reserved for nursing-"  
Tikal came in and wiped Amy's mind. "And this is the last time I can wipe Amy." said Tikal.  
"And I think the you know what is shot." added Cream.

"Go get that bra, Tails." said Rouge.

Tails runs over and picks up the bra. "There's a hole in the bag...curses..." She moaned before putting the stuff in the other bags. "No more saves for me." She said. "Well, I guess i have to tell her sooner or later."

"Did anything else fall out of that bag?" asked Blaze.

Tails checks. "Luckily not..." She replied.

"Did you get everything?" asked Tikal, still holding Amy in place.

Tails then nods. "It's all here."

Tikal frees Amy of the wiping. "Now Amy, do you know when my talk show comes on?" she asks the pink hedgehog.

"Um...Well duh, 3 in the morning on weekdays and 8 am on Saturday." Amy replied.

"She's fine from her fall everyone."

"Thank goodness." Cream said.  
"I fell?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, and you need to look into your birth control." said Rouge.

"Uh...yeah, maybe you're right, that do make me feel kinda odd sometimes..." Amy confessed.

"You know, I heard the pill does have side effects." said Cream.

"I'll see what my doctor says about it." Amy said. The group then saw the ship in sight and headed over to it.


	11. Chapter 11

Before the girls step any further, Amy's phone rings.

Amy takes her phone and flicks it up, taking it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Where are you guys?" asked Marine.

"Just outside the ship, why?" Amy asked.

"Roger. Come on up, everything's all set up here." and Marine disconnected the call.

"All set?" Amy asked, taking the phone from her ear. She puts it away and shrugs. "Marine wants us up on deck i think."

"What's going on?" asked Rouge.

"She didn't say." Amy replied.

"Well, we better get going then." said Cream.

The girls made their way up to the Ocean Tornado. And as soon as the girls got on board, Marine was there to greet them. "Welcome back, mates." she said.

"Heya, Marine." Tails replied. "How were things with Lavender?"

"Decent... and did you all have fun at the fashion show?"

"It turned out different than we expected..."

"Good. Well... all hands on deck with you lot, we're leavin' port for a while."  
This took the girls by surprise, but they all got on and stood in line like a good boating Crew... as best as they could. "Orroight then. You lot enjoyed your shore time, so let's get out on the water. Blaze, raise anchor."  
"Raising anchor." said Blaze as she went to deal with the anchor.  
"Tikal, Cream, lift off that boarding plank from the dock."

Tikal and Cream do as they are ordered. "We going fishing?" Tikal asked.

"Nope, we're going out on the water."Marine answered. "Rouge, you got dibbs on the crow's nest."  
"Sweet." said Rouge.  
"Sweet?"  
"Sorry. Aye aye, cap'n." and up she goes.  
"Amy, let's get that sail down."

"Yes, Captain." Amy said as she heads for the sail, lowering it and tying it in place.

"And Tails, if it's not too much trouble..." and Marine takes Tails' bags, "grab the wheel, would you?"

Tails shrugs. "Aye aye, captain." She replied. With a twirl of her tails, she was quickly at the wheel. _At least she's cheered up. _Blaze thought.

With the sail down, the Ocean Tornado set sail out of the harbour. Once out of the harbour, Marine put the captain's hat on Tails' head. "No worry, my hat won't wipe your memory." she whispered to the fox.

"As much as an honour this is, Marine, I can't wear your Captain's hat, you're the captain after all." Tails replied.

"Forgetting that this is your ship, eh? No matter. I've put your bags in your quarters. Amy, man the cannon!"

"Cannon? How come?" Amy wondered.

"Just in case." and Marine went to join Amy. "I got dibbs on the flamethrower."

"Flamethrower?! This thing has a flamethrower?" Amy asked, shocked.

"You're too trigger happy for the machine gun." Cream joked.

"Machine gun.....?" Amy said, her voice dragged as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What the hell Tails? You made a warship or something?"  
"That's kinda the idea, Amy." Tails replied from the wheel.

"We had a lot of problems out at sea." said Blaze.  
"We also had a few shockers too." added Marine. "Like discovering hidden islands."

"How are they hidden if you found them?" Amy questioned.

"Well, they weren't when we got there the first time."

"Uh....huh...." Amy dragged.

The Ocean Tornado went a good ways out on the water. A couple hundred yards out, but the people passing by could see it out on the water. The Ship came to a stand still and Marine came away from the flamethrower and out to the deck. "Okay ladies, on the deck." said Marine and the girls assembled on the deck. "Now ladies, don't you like how the wind blows in your hair?"

"The water brings a good breeze." answered Rouge.  
"Why are we out here anyway?" asked Cream.  
Marine smiled. "Well, it's just that-"  
"Enough talking, Marine." Vanilla said, cutting off the captain.  
"M... Mom?" Cream was shocked, but didn't see her mother.  
Marine giggled. "Surprise mate!"

Vanilla and crew came from Marine's and Blaze's quarters and even from the lower portions of the ship with party hats and noise makers in tote. It was at this moment when the girls knew that this was a surprise party.

"Surprise party?" Tails questioned.

"Why not, mate?" asked Marine. "This was Sonics' idea."

"It was?" Tails questioned.  
"Yo." Said the blue speed demon from the top of the ship. He gave his typical hero pose and smile.

"Well, I don't like the whole 'Buccaneer Games' motif, but at least we're here for Tails." said Knuckles.

"All right! This is going to be so much fun!" Amy cried out jumping up and down.

Tears began to well in the foxes eyes, but she shook her head. _No, I'm not going to cry._ She thought. "Thanks a lot, you guys."

"You need it, so let's get some grub." said Knuckles.  
"A meal is in order, isn't it?" asked Vanilla.  
"Of course, everyone." said Marine. She then pulled out what looked like a remote control and pressed a button. A shockwave left from the boat and went across the sea, but ended before it got to the beach.

"Eep!" Amy squealed. "What was that?!"

"Don't look at me, I dunno." said Rouge.  
"My phone's on the fritz." said Cream.

"What did you expect, that was an EMP." said Marine. "All electrical equipment is out. Cell phones, PDA, iPods, so on and so forth will be out for a while. You'll be back online in a half." And Lavender's pod rolled out of the hall to the girls feet.

"So, let's get ready to eat." said Vanilla.  
"Good, because I'm starvin." said Knuckles.

Tails picks up Lavender and narrows her eyes. "You're not fooling me, Lavender." She whispered to the pod.  
"Maybe not, but it's a good excuse to sleep." Lavender replied in low tone. Tails simply sighed and walked away from the group.  
"I'll be back in a moment, I'm gonna put Lavender away so she doesn't get damaged." She said.

"Shouldn't that thing be off?" asked Knuckles.  
"She was off, so off equipment wasn't affected by the EMP." Marine answered.

And Tails leaves the group for a moment, entering her room, she places Lavender on the bed, looking over at the bags she got from Honey. Taking a moment, she walks over to them and opens one of the bags. She takes out a babies overalls and sits on the bed, looking at the small red full suited PJ's, complete with a cute bear head on the left side. Tails felt the fabric of the material, losing herself in thought. _So tiny..._ She thought. _It's so cute...but am I really ready for this? It's a bit late now even if I'm not. I'm still not over the fact that this is happening to me. I keep thinking to myself, soon, I'll just wake up and things will be back to normal. Everyone would think I am a boy and...and all this would be just some stupid dream..._ And tears fall from Tails face into the clothing. _But it's not a dream...it's not even a bad nightmare...._

"Knock knock." said Cream. "You having a bit of 'myself time' at the moment?" No reply from Tails, not even a mutter. "Well, the food is being brought out. Go ahead and change and finish up. Time to eat."

"You can come in you know..." Tails replied.

Cream walks inside. "Are you checking the gifts you got too?"

"I just took this one out and...well, here I am..." Tails said, not once looking away from the small outfit. "It's so tiny...and in a matter of weeks...there will be a little tiny person wearing it..." Tails said. "A matter of weeks...not months like those lucky humans...weeks..."

"Nine weeks isn't so bad. Rabbit pregnancy lasts 28-32 days. Having nine weeks to become a mother is a lot better than having only one month to do it."

"I don't want to do this, Cream." Tails cried, her tears streaming from her eyes. "I don't want to do this..."

"Forgetting Honey's words already?"

Tails simply cried for a while. "I can't help it Cream...it doesn't matter how many times that I say that I'm not scared to be a mother...I am scared...I'm really scared. And I can't stop being so scared..."

"And that's why you have all of us are here for you. Now come on out and let's have some food."

_I'm proud...I'm proud...I'm proud..._ Tails thought in her mind. _But.....am I really proud? What if I give birth to a monster...it doesn't matter what anyone says, this child is still the work of Eggman...Who knows what will happen..._ She wiped her eyes and placed the outfit back in the back and sighed.  
"Okay, I think I'm ready to go now..." Tails said.

Tails and Cream walked out of the fox's quarters and joined everyone at the table to eat. Tikal walked over to Cream and whispered to her.  
"Was she okay?" She asked her.

"Having a 'me time' moment." Cream whispered back.

"I see." Tikal replied.

Everyone was passing around the grub, specifically a big yellow bowl of salad. Everyone took their share and Tails got the big bowl last. "Now Tails, I want that bowl of salad cleaned out before you get anything else." said Vanilla.

"There's enough in here to feed a family of 6..." Tails replied.

"No excuses. Now we don't have any ranch dressing, so you can choose between French, thousand island, Italian and oriental sesame seed."

"Well, I do like Italian..."

"Good." and Vanilla passed the bottle of Italian dressing to Tails.

So, the first course was underway, and soon after finished, and Tails was actually amazed...or disgusted at herself, for finishing the whole bowl.

"Look at that, not a leaf left in the bowl." said Rouge.  
"You were hungry, mate." said Marine.

"Wow...and the scary part is I'm not even full. I might just have to issue the 'challenge.'" Tails replied looking at Sonic, this caused gasps around the table. Sonic and Knuckles however simply looked at each other, and then burst into fits of laughter.

"No challenges." said Vanilla.

"Not that it matters. Tails couldn't compete with us anyway." Sonic said.  
"What's the challenge?" Blaze asked.  
"The challenge is a 'duel' of sorts, basically the person to eat the most without giving up or puking wins." Amy explained. "So far, Sonic is unbeaten and Knuckles comes a close second."

"What about Shadow, surely he's not one to miss a challenge to beat Sonic?" Blaze questioned.  
"Shadow said he wouldn't bother with such a medial task when eating 'requires no real skill'."

"No challenges." said Vanilla. "I would like to have a decent meal for a change."  
"Yes, I agree." said Rouge. "Now pass the fish."

So the meal continued and a lot was talked about.  
"So, Knuckles. How's life working as Rouge's bouncer?" Amy asked.

"Bouncer life is good." Knuckles answered.

"Tell me about some of those fashion show models." said Marine.

"Oh you should have seen the sight of one of them. My god, she would have made Big look bikini worthy she was so..." And Tails shudders. "Oh, and you looked very lovely, Vanilla." She added, looking toward Vanilla.

"Wait, Vanilla modelled at the fashion show?" asked Knuckles.  
"Yeah, and Sonics' mom modelled too." added Blaze. And Sonic fell backwards out of his seat.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, I'm no model." said Vanilla.

"Curse your EMP Marine, my phone is shot for another 17 minutes..." Tails said.

"You had on this really... bad excuse for a swimsuit on too." said Rouge. "That string bikini thing you had on and all those people whistling at you..." Vanilla sweat dropped on the back of her head.

"I'm sure you have me mistaken for someone else."

Tails pulled Sonics' phone and laughed. "Teehee, how fortunate." And on the phone came on. "Not affected because of it being off at the time of EMP and luckily, I decided to send the pictures over." And Tails accesses the pictures before showing them around. "Feast your eyes and tell me that this isn't Vanilla."

Everyone looked at the "swimwear" Vanilla was in. "That's a bikini?" asked Marine.  
"Damn, you still got it Vanilla." said Knuckles.

Finally, Tails shows Vanilla. "Deny it now." She said.

"That's not me, you took a pic of my twin sister." said Vanilla.  
"Give it up, Mom. You are so busted..." said Cream.

"Why so shy, Vanilla? Like I said, you looked lovely. However, I gotta find out where Bernie got that dress." Tails said.

"Fine, it was me." said Vanilla. "It's one of the reasons why you shouldn't be modeling." and Vanilla looked at her daughter.  
"Still making excuses...." said Cream.

"Unfortunately, Vanilla. I don't think you have set a good example for Cream by doing the one thing you forbid her from doing." Tails said. "Besides, you make it sound like Cream's going to model kinky shit that'll have perves gawking at her."

"Perhaps Vanilla is worried her daughter will steal her thunder?" Amy suggested.

Vanilla grabbed the fish and finally passed it to Rouge. "Moving on, I went modelling today with Mrs. Hedgehog and had a fun time." she said. "Except that 'string bikini' that had me gawked at. But aside from that, we're allowed to have a girl's day out."

"Ah, geez..." Sonic sighed. "My mother of all people."  
"Now now, Sonic. She didn't embarrass you." Tails replied.  
"Don't say a word Tails." Sonic glared.

"Let's get back to the meal please." said Rouge. So the meal continued, with a long drag of silence.

With all the silence going on, Marine stood from her seat. "Okay crew, it's time for a toast." she began and held her glass. "First, I wanna give a shout out to us for kicking some serious arse against that robot. I mean, I got really banged up in the process, but we did that bugger in big time."  
"Cheers!" everyone shouted.

"Anyone else wanna give a toast out?" asked Marine.  
"I wanna give a toast to Vanilla on wearing the skimpy swimwear that none of the other girls wouldn't dare wear." said Knuckles.  
"That's not funny, Knucklehead." said Rouge.  
"Trying to be supportive. It takes major balls to do something you don't like or don't want to do.

"But we do it anyway. Not because we want to, but sometimes... sometimes we don't have a choice." Those words hit Tails quite hard, making her lower her ears.

"So, cheers to Vanilla for having major balls." Knuckles finished.

So everyone toasted their glasses. "That's very noble, Knuckles." said an embarrassed Vanilla. "Knuckles has a point on having major balls to do something you don't want to or like to do... but there's something else too. Having to live with things they will never wanted to live through. I'm talking about you, Tails."

_And here we go._ thought Rouge.

"W-what..?" Tails questioned.

"You went through a lot a while back, something that no one wishes to go through. Most girls would have been desolate to the point of ending it all, but you decided to tough it out. Sure, we were here to keep your spirits up, but having the will to wake up every day and look at yourself in the mirror to face the world like the strong fox that you are is a perfect example for the rest of us girls. So here is my toast to you for being so strong."

"Cheers to Tails, mates." said Marine.  
"Yeah, to Tails." agreed Cream.  
"I'll lift my glass to that." said Knuckles. And all glasses were raised to a now highly emotional fox.  
"Thanks, everyone." She said.

"Well, lift up your glass, Tails. Toast yourself for a change." said Marine.

"But I...." Tails dragged, looking at her glass.

"There you go selling yourself short again. Enjoy the moment for a change, mate. Don't you think you deserve it?"

"......No....because deep down I'm not as strong as you all make me out to be...." Tails confessed. "I'm not..."

"Does anyone have a definition of 'strong'?" asked Blaze.

"Not a definition. It has several terms though." Amy said.

"What is Tails' definition of strong?" asked Knuckles.

"Sonic is my definition of strong..." Tails replied.

"Me, strong?" asked a confused Sonic. "Some strength I have for running away all this time. That's not strong, Tails...."

"No, that isn't strong." agreed Knuckles.

"But I will say this about strength. Strength comes from the heart. I think that's what Vanilla meant by her toast. Being able to... and I don't mean to reopen closed wounds here...

"Strength is being able to endure something like being violated against your own will, feeling like the world is practically over.. but still having the guts to stand up and save the ones that matter to you, that's strength. For having to go alone and get roughed up out of concern for others without even thinking about themselves because of love... some call that foolish, but it truly is strength. For being able to cry... and even though you may have been told that shedding tears is weakness, expressing one's self through tears over whatever the case may be, that's strength. And most importantly, being there for the people you love even when you know you aren't at your best and still manage to pull through. That's strength."  
"That's also what you did for us back at Club Rouge, Tails." Marine pointed out.  
"Truth is Tails, you are strong. You have to be... because strength and being strong is told by the way we move our eyes. Our eyes also tell us that we have things that need to be said." Sonic continued. "And I'm sure you have a lot to say, so tell us already. You're with your crew... and no matter how embarrassing it is, we aren't going to laugh at or scorn you for it. Right people?"  
"I won't laugh." Vanilla answered.  
"I won't laugh." said Blaze.  
"I don't laugh much anyway." said Knuckles.

"No laughin' here, mate." said Marine.  
"None from me either." said Rouge.  
"Or me." said Cream.  
"Amy, Tikal, what about you two? You won't laugh at what Tails has to say, right?"

"I won't laugh." Tikal said.  
"Me either." Amy said.

"Well Tails, the floor is yours." said Sonic. "It's time for your speech, Tails. Tell us what the soul yearns to say."  
"Yeah Tails, let's hear it." added Rouge. "We're all behind you."  
"And no running away, it's a long swim to shore." said Marine.

"There's no way you'd let me go...is there?" Tails asked sadly. "I don't know what it is but every single time I want to out and say it to Sonic, I just lose my nerve. Every day for the past week I'd say, 'I'll tell him today, without a doubt.' But I was always so misled. I'd see Sonic and he'd shine me his 'hero smile' and my nerves just kick in and I just can never bring myself to say it..." Tails cried.

"I'm listening now, so tell me." said Sonic.

"It's not whether or not you are listening, Sonic...it's how you take it that worries me." Tails replied.

"An old saying says, 'Never knowing is worse than confessing when it's too late.' so tell me, already. You've told me really personal secrets and I've stomached those."

Tails then opened her mouth to speak, again however her nerves kick in as she looks at her blue spiky hero. She lowers her head and silently cries a little more. "I......."  
"Go on, Tails...You can do it." Tikal said reassuringly.  
"I........I........." And Tails lifts her head to look at Sonic again. She lowers her ears sadly. "I'm...gonna be a mother..." She said, her hands shake quite severely as the words come out and her entire body is visibly trembling.

There was a silence at the table of the crew. It was soon broken by the sound of the wind. "That's it? You're pregnant?" asked Knuckles.  
"The news is shocking." said Blaze.  
"Amy, are you okay? You look a bit pale." asked Rouge. No reply from the pink hedgehog.

"So, my little buddy's gonna be a mom." said Sonic. "I should've known that when Dr. Quack mentioned seminal fluid."

"You're taking this pretty well, Sonic." said Rouge.  
"I'm shocked, Rouge. But this was nothin' to really have a cow over. I mean, you should've seen the expression on Knuckles' face when he found about his baby brother." Boom. There goes the crash of the pink hedgehog.  
"And she lasted 26 seconds people." Rouge said. Tikal pat Tails on the shoulder.  
"You see, that wasn't so bad now was it?" Tails didn't reply, but she was still shaking a little. "And, after that, despite what you say, I still agree that you're strong because despite the fact it took this long, you finally came out and said it."

"So is it a boy, or girl?" asked Sonic.

"I don't know." Tails replied, her voice trembling a little.

"I guess that hasn't come up yet."

"No. I haven't seen Dr Quack yet."

"That'll probably come later."  
"So, how long are we gonna stay out here?" asked Cream.  
"We still have to have dessert." said Vanilla. "Who wants cake?"  
"Me, me, I want cake!" Marine yelled.  
"Me too." said Cream.  
"Let's have some." said Rouge.

"M...may I be excused for a moment?" Tails asked.

"Need time for the can?" asked Vanilla.

"N-no...I just need to breathe a moment..."

"Have fun, but don't be long." said Cream.

And Tails stood and left to her quarters, closing the door behind her. She walked over to her bed and looked at herself in the mirror. _Look at yourself you silly fox...just look how messy you are..._ She thought. With that, she removed her oversized clothing completely and tossed them aside, standing completely naked in her room. She took off the Teflon from her chest, allowing her breasts to once again breathe. Holding it up, she looked at it. "I don't need this anymore..." She said aloud to herself, dropping it to the floor. She walked over to the bags of clothing Honey had given her and looked through the maternity clothing she had. _I wonder..._

Back with the crew, Amy was still out.  
"Well, that was a little eventful, wasn't it?" Tikal said.

"Decent turnout in my opinion." said Rouge.

"At least now Tails can get the full support she's always needed."

"She's always had it." said Marine. "It's just that Tails has now figured out about the support thing."

"I hope she's okay back there." Cream said.

"Give her time. She's finally come out about being pregnant." said Vanilla.

A groan is heard from the unconscious Amy as she begins to come round.

"Tikal, deal with her, I'll check on our fox." said Vanilla and went over to her door. then gave three raps.

"Hello?" Tails questioned.

"Feeling better now?" Vanilla asked her.

"The doors unlocked." Tails said.

"I just wanted to check up on you for cake."

"I'd like your opinion on something first though."

"Really, on what?"

"On how I look."

Vanilla walks in on Tails to see her in one of the maternity dresses. "You fill that one out well."

"Oh?" Tails asked. She was currently brushing her hair.

"It gives your ass a well rounded look. Nice and firm."

Tails then blushed and looked in the mirror at a different angle. "You think?"

"You're fine, Tails. In appearance and emotionally, you're gonna be fine."

"Feel's kinda odd to see myself with a bust though..." Tails said. "I'm wearing a 'nursing bra' that Honey gave me."

"Do you know how it works?"

"Not entirely..." Tails blushed.

"The cups detach on nursing bras, so when the time comes for your fussy baby... or when you have to, you know, fill a bottle, you can do it without having to remove it and handle your business. Then close the cups and you're good.

"There are a lot of uses for bras like that."

"I see..." Tails said. "It still feels odd, I guess I got used to compressing them..." Vanilla giggles. Tails gives herself one more look over, twirls around and faces Vanilla. "Anyway, I do believe I'm good for cake, so long as no one laughs at me in this getup."

"You'll be fine."

"Should we go then?"

"Let's do that." So Tails and Vanilla head back to the group, Tails somewhat hiding behind Vanilla though.

"Okay people, let's all take a look at Tails' new look." said Vanilla and she moved away from Tails, exposing the fox to her friends. This made Tails blush quite severely, but she gave a small curtsy for show.

"Red looks nice on you." said Sonic.  
"Makes you look more feminine." said Knuckles.

"Thank you." Tails blushed a little more.

"Tails fills out a red dress better than Amy." said Cream.

"Hey, that's not true." Amy snapped.

"But you look like quite the buxom wench." said Marine. "And I mean that in a good way." Amy snarled.  
"Now now. Can we just have cake and not fuss over who does what better?" Tails asked.

"Yes, let's have some cake and get back to port." said Knuckles. "We all know that Sonic doesn't fare well if the blue beneath his feet isn't concrete."

"So, do you think you'll fare well for a sleep on the ship, Tails?" asked Marine.

"I'm not sure." Tails replied. "Maybe, but I have to admit, being on water too long makes me nauseous." Tails said.

"Fine, let's get to port, then have cake." and Marine took the wheel.

"Sorry." Tails said.

Marine got the Ocean Tornado back into port, then Vanilla started slicing the cake.

"The cake looks quite nice." Tails said.  
"Yes it does." Tikal said.  
"Amy, haven't you recovered fully yet?"  
"Still trying to take in the concept..." Amy said. "Eggman said he had Sonics' 'love juice' and Tails is pregnant...so...does that mean that Sonic is the father?"

"Would that be a problem?" asked Vanilla as she cut the cake.

"YES! Of course that'd be a problem!" Amy countered without thinking. "Only I, Amy Rose, Sonics' true love, can bare his children."  
"Well, sucks to be you." Tails replied.

"Here, have some cake." said Vanilla.

"I'm not hungry anymore. I lost my appetite." Amy replied.

"I wonder if there is a way to find out if your baby has a father at all, and who is if that's the case." Tikal said.

"Stop it, Amy. Don't be mean to Tails over little things." said Vanilla as she passed a slice of cake to Tails.

"I'm not being mean. I'm jealous." Amy pouted.

"Over nothing." and Vanilla hands Amy a slice of cake.

Amy looks at her cake as Tails eats a little of hers. "Mmmn, this is delicious." Tails said with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"I'm glad you like it." Vanilla said. "And what do you think of the cake, Amy?"

Amy in frustration takes a large bite of the cake she was given and chews it down. "It's....actually not bad at all." She said.

Everyone enjoys the cake... by hook or by crook and Vanilla notices Rouge observing Tails. So she decides to take her into Blaze's private quarters. "You know, you've been staring at Tails' chest for quite some time now." Vanilla pointed out.  
"Her bust has quite the press in that dress." said Rouge.  
"Is there something I should know about that?"  
"Fine, I want two cups of that fox's milk."  
"Really now? And how come?"  
"Examining purposes."  
"And Marine wants to drink from Tails' chest. What about the rest of it?"  
"No comment..."  
"Most women cook with breast milk."

"Well....."  
"Relax. Let me fill you in on what we ate."  
"Okay, tell me."  
"I went to a maternity store for that cake, and I looked up on the internet on motherhood for the salad. All that alfalfa, anise seed and thistle, including the Omega-3 fatty acid... All of this is going to her breasts. Come bed time, she's gonna be ready to let out a lot. Get it from her then."  
"Thanks... but why do this for me?"  
"Not for you, I want to milk her myself... but I want to use it to cook things." and the two rejoin everyone else.

"Where did you two go?" Tails asked.

"We were having a discussion about which drinks to put into Rouge's club upon re-opening day." Vanilla answered.  
"I think I'll add that one drink called Cyclone." said Rouge.

"I see." Tails replied. "Fare enough." Tails returned to her cake. _Though I know you're bullshitting me. Why would you need to speak privately about something like that?_

"By the way Rouge, I want you to keep the words about the chaos emerald secret." said Vanilla.

This got some attention. "Chaos emerald?" Tails questioned.

"Well, you..." said Rouge.  
Vanilla sighed. "Okay everyone, listen up. "I was hoping to keep this quiet, but I'll share it with you. the deal is that I've learned how to create chaos emeralds."

"What?!" Everyone yelled in surprise. This had the attention of a certain black hedgehog who'd been on the roof of the boat the whole time.

"But enough about that, I think Tails will be fine here on the boat tonight. Enjoy the rest with the crew, and I'm sure sleeping here at the port won't hurt you for one night."

"Sure okay." Tails said. "I'm still curious though. I hope you don't mind telling me sometime."

"Maybe behind closed doors. But for now, we'll be heading ashore and grabbing the rest of your things. Come on, Cream."  
"Yes Mother." said Cream. "Rest well, Tails." and off the two rabbits go. Unknown to them, Shadow decides to follow by walking over building tops.

"Mom, can you really create chaos emeralds?" asked Cream as they walked.  
"Not really." Vanilla answered. "It was an alibi. I do know about Shadow collecting them."  
"Really now. How many does he have?"  
"From what Rouge told me, six... and I have the blue one." And Shadow lands behind them.

"In that case, would you kindly hand it over to me, and I'll be on my way." He tells her.

"I don't have it on me, Shadow." Vanilla answered.

"Then get it." Shadow narrowed his brow, showing signs of frustration.

Vanilla smiled at Shadow. "You have to earn my chaos emerald."

"And how would I do that?" Shadow asked, his tone not changing.

"Not with force, like you've done with the one in Tails' lab."

"I had to remove that one to prevent it from being taken by other means, despite my intention to remove it without permission anyway." Shadow replied. "So, if not by force, how else?"

"Through resolution. The problem with you is that your temper has gotten the better of you. And from what has been observed, it has to do with you and Tails."

"That's none of your business."

"Then I guess you don't have the guts to earn things. Until I've seen in my own eyes that you and Tails can resolve whatever it is that's going on with you, 'Mr. Ultimate Lifeform' will be one emerald short."

"There is nothing between me and Tails."

"You're right, there's nothing at all. Just like there's nothing in your power you can do to get the last emerald. Come on, Cream, we have shopping to do."  
"Yes Mother." said Cream and the two walked off.

Shadow growls and warps in front of the two. "What exactly do you want from me?"

"Nothing, just like there's nothing going on." answered Vanilla and the two rabbits keep on walking.

Shadow was losing his patience. "What do you expect me to say, huh?"

"Cream, do you think Shadow likes his panties, tidy white or river cry blue?"

"Maybe envy green?" guessed Cream.

"Actually, my preferences are river cry blue." Shadow replied with a sly grin. "Now let's go against my better judgement and tell you that it's true something is bothering me about the whole Tails incident, then what?"

"Then you have some resolution to deal with." answered Vanilla.

"Go on."

"Some weapon. All that power, but a bad memory..."

"You're testing my patience, woman!" Shadow growled.

"No, I'm making you earn what you usually take. Not everything can be answered by force."

"And, again against my better judgements, I'm willing to play your silly little games to avoid having to hurt you, but you're making this incredibly difficult."

"Cream, run back to the ship." said Vanilla.  
"Yes, Mother." said Cream and off she went.  
Once Cream was out of sight, Vanilla literally rips off her usual dress, revealing that circuit print bodysuit. "Let me remind you..." she began. "I dropped that robot that ended up freezing your pride. If you think you can take my emerald by force, you're welcome to fail." then Vanilla shot a blast of energy at Shadow, knocking the black hedgehog ten feet away. However, Shadow landed on his feet.

Shadow simply walked towards Vanilla. However, he had no signs of him attempting an attack. In fact he simply stood in the same spot he was shot away from. "Allow me to explain the second reason I'm not going to take the emerald from you. Tails has enough on her plate without having to comfort Cream because I broke your spine in half." He said.

"Even with a severed spinal chord, you'll never get that last emerald by force."

Shadow simply stands there, unphased by the previous attack. "So, are we going to continue talking, or will you knock me away again?"

Meanwhile, back at the ship, Cream runs up on board panting.  
"What's up, Cream?" Blaze asked.

"Mom and Shadow are bickering over a chaos emerald." Cream answered.

Sonic then leaps up. "Shadow's up to no good, it seems. Well, let's go have a look." He said doing a few squats, and he dashes off to the location.

Shadow stands in the same spot, arms folded, waiting for Vanilla's response.

"You have a lot to learn." and Vanilla took her leave. Shadow simply narrows his brow and turns to take his own leave, only to come face to face with Sonic.  
"What do you want, Blue Hedgehog?"

"Vanilla can't be beaten by force, Shadow." Sonic said. "You have to use other means."

"I'm sure she can be beaten by force. I'm just not taking that route." Shadow replied.

"Only one person was able to beat Vanilla by force and he's dead, so use other means. It's a lot easier that way."

"I am the ultimate life form." Shadow said. "I'm not scared of some single mother who wears a robot like a new fashion accessory. But, like I said, I have no intention of taking that emerald by force, even if that woman is a pain, she's not my enemy and I won't make enemies with Cream and Tails for the sake of an emerald. It's just not clear to me what exactly I'm meant to do."

"Use the opposite of force." Sonic said and sped off.

"I don't know why I put up with this..." Shadow sighed and then left.

Back at the boat, Tails was talking to Cream.  
"Sometimes I just don't have a clue what goes on in Shadow's head." she said.

"Only Maria knew that." said Cream.

"Yeah...I wonder if Shadow were a nicer person before Maria died...Would have liked to meet the 'nice' Shadow, wouldn't you?"

"Who knows." said Rouge. "His only friend is Omega."

"Yeah, and Omega is just as emotionless as he is..." Tails sighed. "He's not even a good source to ask."

"Sorry, I'm only an associate."

"I thought you and him were a little closer than that."

"Somewhat... we keep things professional."

"Hey Blaze! Whatever happened to you chatting him up? Did you get cold feet?" Tails asked Blaze.

"I got no chance." Blaze answered.

"So much for Feline Seduction..."

"Oops." said Cream.

Tails stretches a little. "Sooo, I wonder when Vanilla will get back, there's no explosions, so there can't be a battle going on."

"It's probably over." said Rouge.

"Anyway, I think I'm heading for a sleep." Tails yawned.

"Sleep well." said Cream.

"We can figure out how Shadow ticks tomorrow. G'night." And Tails heads off to her quarters.

"We better go too, Tikal." said Knuckles.

"Indeed, Amy, you should go home as well." Tikal replied.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. See you later everyone." And off Amy goes.

"Great, I guess I'm gonna go home too." said Cream.  
"I'll walk you home, said Blaze. Tikal and Knuckles take off and head back to their island.

Meanwhile, Tails had a few problems. _No way...I emptied this morning, there's no way I should be lactating yet..._ She thought.

Three raps came to Tails' door. "Hey, Tails, you in your nightgown?" Rouge called out from the other side of the door.

"No, I'm half naked..." Tails replied.

"Nothing new to me." said Rouge and walked into her quarters.

Tails looks at Rouge. "What can I help you with?" she questioned.

Rouge had a devilish grin on her face. "You're the one who needs help." said Rouge.

Tails sweat drops. "Is that so?"

"Well, you look like you're ready to burst."

"I feel like it as well..." Tails lowered her ears.

Rouge approached Tails. "You poor girl, tricked at your own party."

"Excuse me?" Tails questioned, backing away slightly.

"I think I'll take my two cups from the source now."

"And if I refuse?"

"Refuse... you can't."

"What do you want with it anyway? You don't need two cups to analyse, so tell me the truth."

"Or I can grab those perky girls and squeeze them like they're fluffy marshmallows."

And Tails is backed into the wall. "Leave me alone, Rouge..."

"You can do this willingly, or let yourself suffer."

"You tell me what you want with it. Why should I give it to you at all?" Tails covers her own breasts with her hands, her arms crossed and hands covering nipples.

"Fine... I'll wait until you become sore from swelling."

_That won't be long..._Tails thought. "Get out of my room, Rouge."

"And to think, you're going... fine. Be that way, you won't be able to take all of that pressure anyway." and Rouge left Tails' room

And Tails fell to her butt, letting go off her chest and began to shake. _What the hell was that all about?_

_She won't last too much longer._ Thought Rouge.  
Marine shows up. "Whassup in there, luv?" she asked.  
"Tails is having chest pains." Rouge answered.  
"Can we help?"  
"Not really. This is something that is a curse to top heavy girls."

Back inside, Tails had taken the pump to her own chest and relieved the aching, filling 3 and a half containers. _Okay, that amount worries me..._ She thought. She took two containers and stood up, putting on her pyjama top, she left the room and looked up and down, seeing the girls she walks over.  
"Rouge, what the hell do you want my breast milk for?" She asked, holding the containers behind her back, out of the other girls view.

"Breast milk?" asked Marine.

"Yeah, it was before the attack on my club." Rouge explained. "I told her that I wanted two cups of it when she started."

"Which to this point still freaks me out, and Rouge just scared the crap out of me trying to get it..." Tails added.

"I'll take it if you won't give it to Rouge." said Marine.

"What the hell, Marine?" Tails questioned. "You know, I might as well open a store and sell this crap since it's so popular with everyone..." Tails pulls the containers and passes them to Rouge. "Here, since you're so obsessed with it, just don't try and scare me into it again, that wasn't kosher..."

"I'll take those." and Marine grabbed then, removed the tops and drunk it. "Huh, that's pretty plain. Can we inject chocolate syrup into those things?"

Tails shrugged. "Well, that was your lot Rouge." And Tails turns and heads back toward her room.

"Hey, no fair." said Rouge pursuing the fox. "I want mine from the source, not minutes old."

"What are you implying? You want me to breast feed you?" Tails questioned.

"I wanna go first." said Marine.

"No, no... and grow up, Marine." said Rouge.  
"No way, I wanna suck those mounds, and then I'll have leverage on Cream."

_No you won't..._ Thought Tails. "So what do **you** want then, Rouge?"

"I just want my two cups from the source and analyze it." Rouge answered.

"Two fresh containers just went into Marine." Tails asked.

"Come on." and Rouge takes Tails into her quarters, locks the door and addresses the fox again. "Besides, you mentioned before the boat that this would make us even."

"Until you scared the shit out of me..."

"You know you'll be milking yourself for most of the night."

"What?!"

"Probably until 2 a.m. if I had to guess. You'll swell up as the days go by..." Rouge giggled. "And judging by that chest of yours, your milk will be giving you pain again."

"God damn it." Tails cursed.

"So, are you ready to do this the easy way, or do you wanna be stubborn?"

"Well, if pumping isn't what you want, then what?" Tails asked.

"Simple.... turn around and lean against the drawer." Tails lifts an eyebrow, but gives in and does as she's told, turning her back to Rouge and leaning against the drawer.

Rouge walks behind the fox with a smile on her brow. "Now, let's deal with that torso."

Tails gulps worriedly, unknowing what the bat has planned for her.

_Fun time._ thought Rouge and grabbed Tails' breasts. "Now for my portion."

"What exactly are you planning?" Tails asked with a blush in her cheeks.

"First, a massage, then comes the 'payout' so to speak. But don't worry, I'll be as gentle to you as possible."

"I hope this doesn't take long, this isn't exactly emotionally comfortable..." Tails replied.

"We'll see."

Rouge began to work her hands across Tails' torso. _For someone who used teflon to look flat, she has some very soft girls._ thought Rouge as she made sure her fingers circled Tails' nipples. Afterwards, she stimulated the fox so that the milk flow was felt in the fox. "Anything yet?" Rouge asked.

"Yes, incredibly embarrassing..." Tails replied, though she cooed slightly as her nipples were rather sensitive to Rouge's touch, not to mention the overall feel she got from the massage.

"Eventually, you'll start feeling the swelling peak. When that happens, tell me."

"The swelling peak?" Tails cooed a little more. "You mean like it's about to burst out or something?"

"To the point when it becomes borderline unbearable." and Rouge continued padding Tails' breasts.

"Could you...stop? My legs are getting weak..." Tails cooed.

"If you're about to get off, then get off." Rouge said as she continued to pad Tails' breasts. "Let me know when you can't stand it in your breasts anymore."

"I'm not gonna get off...." Tails retorted. "And you're almost there..."

"So be it..." and Rouge continued padding Tails.

After a few more minutes, Tails was finally at borderline unbearable. "Okay, I can't stand it any longer..." She told Rouge.

"Good, that wasn't so long." said Rouge and she began pinching Tails' nipples. "This may seem cruel by your personal opinion, but this works... but there's also the other way too."

"Wh-what are you doing?" Tails asked.

"Milking you of course... in a similar way that your baby will nurse from you." Rouge removed on of her hands to grab a nearby dish and slid it in front of Tails' swollen chest. Then she went back to pinching the exposed nipple.

_It's... too... much..._ Tails thought and felt it all in her chest. Eventually, the fox's breasts flooded her milk out. Rouge made sure things went well, but the dish filled rather quickly. "Okay, pinch your nipples for a moment." the bat told Tails.  
"O... okay." said Tails and did as instructed.

Rouge went to collect a tub which had measuring bars on the side, then emptied the dish into it. Afterwards, placed the dish in front of Tails again. "Can I let go now..." Tails said in a whimpering tone.  
"Go ahead." said Rouge.

Tails released herself and let her chest spill into the dish again. Once again, it filled up quickly and Tails actually pinched herself on her own. "That's interesting." said Rouge as she took the dish. "You're going through with this peacefully."  
"Let's just say it's better than being swollen to the point where I'm going mad." said Tails.  
Rouge emptied the dish and placed it in front of the fox again and the process continued. A third dish gave Rouge her two cups, but she placed the dish in front of Tails again.

Tails sighed and let her breasts drain into the dish. _At least I'm giving Rouge her share. She probably won't bug me anymore after I do this._ she thought.  
"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" asked Rouge.  
"It was," Tails answered, "but now it won't stop."  
"Perhaps I should get Marine..."  
"Not funny, make it stop!"  
"But you should... fine, turn around."

Tails turned around and noticed that Rouge had a syringe in her hand. "Please tell me that's coagulate." she said.  
"Not really, but it'll help." Rouge answered.

"How so?" Tails asked.

"The second way is somewhat risky, but it works. And unfortunately, it involves the needle."

"Risky how?"

Rouge took a breath. "This needle is going into those girls of yours. Not the same one, but a second one for the other breast."

Tails narrows her eyes. "I'm so going to get back pay for this, Rouge..."

"This is something that women do when they have excess lactation. And besides, Vanilla was the one that made sure everything you ate went to your breasts. Now, you can release your nipples and drain out for the night, or you can take this needle and 'damn the river' so to speak."

"Again, what does the risk involve?" Tails asked. "Other than poking more leak holes?"

"No leak holes, it'll just get you to stop. Then you can decide whether or not the milk in the dish can go down Marine's throat."

"I thought you wanted it. Make up your mind." Tails replied.

"Fine, I'll take what's in the dish too. So, do you wanna flood out, or stop flooding?"

"I want to sleep tonight, so make it stop..." Tails retorted.

"Okay, hold still, because these are going straight in." Rouge approached Tails with the syringe, then inserted the needle straight into the centre to Tails' right nipple.

Tails twitched and yelped in pain, but tried to keep still.

"Sensitive as usual, but the pain is only an optical response. You aren't really having it." Rouge assured Tails. "You see, our breasts are composed of fat as you know. In actuality, you aren't really feeling this." Rouge began to pull on the syringe's plunger, drawing milk from Tails' right breast. "See, no blood at all. Shocking, isn't it?"

"That makes no sense at all..." Tails replied.

"So you didn't feel this milk leave your body?"

"Okay, I'm staying quiet. I'll stick to my mind running on machines rather than things I didn't bother looking into..."

"Hold still, otherwise the needle will get stuck."

Tails keeps as still as she can. "Don't take too long."

"Right." and Rouge slowly began to withdraw the syringe. It took twenty seconds, but the needle was funny removed and Rouge gave a quick pinch to Tails' nipple. She held it for five seconds, released, and nothing left her breast. "Well there you go." said Rouge. "Now for the other one. Ready?"

"Yes, get it over with..." Tails sighed. Rouge took the first syringe and placed it in a biohazard bag, then took the closed vial of milk and put it away. A second syringe was taken out and the same thing happened to Tails' left nipple.

"So, what if you have a boy?" Rouge decided to make small talk.

"Huh? I don't know. I haven't thought about it..." Tails replied.

Rouge pulls the plunger, withdrawing milk from Tails' left breast. "Can you feel the milk leaving your body?"

"Not really..." Tails said.

"I see." and Rouge slowly withdraws the syringe. "Well, hopefully you'll think of a nice boy's name." and Rouge followed the same procedure with Tails' left nipple as she did with the right. "And this one goes to the doctor."

"Yeah, okay..." Tails replied. "I should see him soon."

"He'll probably call you in for a routine check-up." and Rouge drinks the milk in the dish. "Huh, Marine was right... this does taste plain."

"Well, good." Tails pouted. "Because it's not for you guys anyway."

"I see. Well, thanks for your share and rest soundly." then Rouge left Tails' quarters

Tails yawns. _Nasty...My milk is not for them._ She thought. _I'm gonna go to sleep...I'm too tired..._ And Tails walks over to her bed and gets in before covering herself up to sleep.

As Tails down to sleep in her quarters, she puts the past few weeks behind her. A lot has happened during this couple of weeks and finally has a bit of closure. The fox knows she has a long way to go as far as pregnancy woes concern, but at least our heroine has found the much needed support from friends... and unexpected help alike. The rest of Tails' third week went "well" to say the least. She had a few more lactic situations, but they were handled even better than usual and Tails isn't crying as much. Amy still hasn't gotten over things and we know that Tails' thoughts about motherhood still have worries, but she has found a bit of closure.

_What kind of mother will I become? I sure hope that things turn out well for me._


	12. Chapter 12

It's 9 a.m. and Tails finally woke up from her sleep. She yawned and finally took to her feet. As she rubbed her eyes, Tails came across the closet door, which was a full mirror. Her baby bump was in now and nothing was going to be able to conceal how much her first born has grown. Tails rubs her bump in a sense of admiring how her body has become. _At least I don't have to worry about hiding things._ She thought and yawned a second time. Three raps came to her door. "Hey Tails, you awake yet?"  
Tails heard Sonics' voice from the other side of the door. "Yeah, somewhat." she answered.  
"Well come on out when you're mobile enough, breakfast is up..."

Tails managed to throw on a robe that she received from Honey and tied it up. _Wow, this thing really is suited for mothers._ She thought. _I guess Honey's gifts really do come in handy._ Tails put on matching slippers then headed out of her room and walked into the kitchen. Tails was used to two things being at Sonics' pad: The great view of the sea since this house was on the beach; not having to worry about waking up at early parts of the morning to grab grub. Since she's been staying with Sonic during her term, Tails managed to get in a few heart-to-hearts with her "brother" since the whole finding out ordeal and now things are much calmer for the two of them. It was still going to be a long way to be "back to normal", but at least Tail still had Sonics' shoulder to lean on. "Nice robe." said Sonic as he sat and ate.

"Thanks, Sonic." said Tails.  
"You're getting pretty big, can you see your feet?"  
"Just my toes. And don't remind me about getting big." and Tails sits at the table.  
"Sorry. A part of me still can't believe you're pregnant. I mean, I thought you would get that way, but I figured you'd have some girl like Cream with the belly."  
"Hardy har har..." and Tails grabbed the pancakes.  
"Hey, save some for me."  
"Save some...."  
"Relax, I'm just kidding."  
"Well don't joke about this..."  
"Then smile already. Quit waking up all glum on me."

"My mood swings are something you gotta deal with, Sonic." Tails grinned slyly.

"I'm just trying to figure out how you'll be getting around. I mean, you probably won't be able to fly from this point on."

"There are other means of me getting around."

"Like walking."

"Exactly."

"Anyway, what exactly do you plan on doing today?"

"I haven't thought about it." Tails replied, taking her share of pancakes and sending the rest to Sonic, before heading to eat.

Sonic giggled and grabbed the remote, then turned on the TV. A few boring commercials and even a channel of soft-core porn was glimpsed at, then the channel was set on the news. "It's going to be another nice day today without a cloud in the sky and temperatures will be in the low to mid 70s. Not too bad of a day for a walk." said the meteorologist.  
"Thank you Patty." said the anchorman. "We've just come across some breaking news from an anonymous tipster. Apparently, someone has found actual proof that the beloved hero of Station Square Miles Prower, or known to the public as Tails is actually a female fox."

Sonic managed to grab Tails, catching the fox as she fell from her seat.

"Tails, are you okay?" Sonic asked. Tails eyes were wide as she watched the screen.  
"Bu...But who'd....who'd do this to me?" She asked, her voice was quiet as she spoke the words.

"Tails is actually a girl?" asked the anchorwoman.  
"That's what the tipster has pointed out." answered the anchorman. "But I guess that person is trying to catch attention for a cruel joke. This headline was posted the three paper company editors including the Station Square Daily. We had a correspondent talk with these papers and all of them agree... It's simply a waste of time and the headlines were shredded."  
"Shredded?"  
"Yes. And on a somewhat similar note, fashion diva Ms. Honey has announced the production of her new maternity line anagrammed OBGYN. And if viewers recalled that during the fashion show last week, Ms. Honey pointed out an anxiously scared Tails fan look-a-like Miley Inari from Radical City during the end of the fashion show. Since the news was emailed about the highlights of that show, we all think this hoax to be humorous."

"That's right. And if that tipster can hear me today as I say this on the news, shame on you for making a nervous pregnant girl stress out for no reason."  
"That apparently is the comment from the editors of those papers, who managed to watch the fashion show. We also got a response from the real Tails in regards to the incident as he called earlier this morning."

"I honestly didn't know about my own personal fan club, and I really didn't know that I had such a dedicated fan to boot. I've been laying low after the attack on my workshop in a hidden lab on a remote island. Miley, keep up the faith and stay strong. Your baby is depending on you." said the recorded message.  
"Strong words from a strong hero." said the anchorwoman. "We'll be back with sports."

Sonic turns off the television set. "Well, at least people still think you're a guy." said Sonic. "They also think you're actually your look-a-like fan Miley Inari."

Tails stood. "Excuse me..." She said, before she retreated to her room and locked herself inside.

Sonic went to Tails' door. "Tails, come on, don't let this get to you. You heard the news lady; some idiot just wants to stress you out. Everyone believes that you are Miley Inari. Or are you taking your prescriptions? If this is the prescription thing, then forget about what I just said." No comment came from Tails. "Look, don't let this ruin breakfast. Remember about that-" Before Sonic could finish speaking, he heard four raps at his door. The blue hedgehog sighed, "Be right back, Tails." and he went to answer the door.

The sounds of footsteps could be heard, followed by the opening of a door, the closing of a door, another brief silence and the footsteps approaching her door. "Open the door, 'Miley'. There's no running away from your doctor." Click. The door was clearly unlocked, but Tails didn't open it. She'd gone back and sat on her bed.

"You can come in, if you want to..." She spoke out.

"Get out here, young lady." said Dr. Quack. "You can run from the media, the fans, the admirers and the gawkers, but there's no running away from your doctor."

It was a long delay, but eventually Tails opened the door.

After the initial "dispute", Sonic and Tails went into the living room and had their check-up with Doctor Quack. "Good health as always, Sonic." Dr. Quack said as he finished checking the hedgehog.  
"What did you expect?" asked Sonic.  
"Honestly, a few cramps and muscle strains."  
Sonic almost fell over from the response. "Nice one, doc."  
"Now for our fox." and Dr. Quack walked over to the couch where she sat. "Vanilla told me about that meal you had on the Ocean Tornado. I guess it's safe to say that you're eating enough."

"And generally the healthier things." Tails replied.

"Good. Now lay back and let's take a look at the belly of yours."

Tails does as she's ordered and careful lies on her back, spread on the couch. "Okay."

"How did you know about Tails being Miley, Dr. Quack?" asked Sonic.  
"Are you kidding me? Elizabeth is still mad at that." answered Dr. Quack. "Before the fashion show interrupted our mood, the wife and I were watching Pussy N Boots on the tube."  
Sonic fell over backwards after hearing this response. "I didn't know you watched porn in your off hours."  
"I don't, Elizabeth was watching it I caught her in the midst of... Anyway, you are bigger than I thought you would be at this time, Tails."

"Really?" Tails questioned.

"Bigger than your mother was at this time."

"I see. Is that bad?" Tails asked.

"Of course not, Tails. That just means you'll have a healthy baby."  
"You are eating for more than yourself." added Sonic.  
"That reminds me, have you had any odd cravings?"

"How do you mean by 'odd'?" Tails asked.

"Stuff that regular people wouldn't normally eat." Dr. Quack answered. "When Elizabeth was carrying our first egg, she ate weird stuff like salads that were-"  
"Salads aren't weird, doc." Sonic cut off.  
"When a woman uses chocolate syrup on a vegetable salad in place of dressing, I call that weird."

"I might say yes then..." Tails blushed slightly.

"Do any foods taste weird?" asked Sonic.

"I haven't really noticed." Tails replied.

"I see." said Dr. Quack. "Okay, now for the fun part. Since you're this big, I might as well jelly your belly."

"Sonogram?" Tails questioned.

"Yup, might as well."

Tails seemed to perk Slightly. "How exciting." She said.

"Did my mom have mood swings like this?" asked Sonic.  
"Sometimes, but she was mostly pissed due to all the prenatal spin-dashing you did." answered Dr. Quack.  
"Ha, ha, doc."  
"Your mother wasn't laughing." and jelly was administered to Tails' belly.

"That's cold..." Tails said.

"It has to be." said Dr. Quack.  
"So where is this sonogram anyway?" asked Sonic.  
"In my bag, of course. And make sure that-"  
"Too late." and Sonic set the portable sonogram on the coffee table.  
"Maybe if you're done running around, you can go into the medical field."  
"Pass. I like the freedom of being able to go wherever I wish."

Tails reaches and presses the jelly slightly. "What is this made of anyway?" She asked.

"Nothing edible." Dr. Quack answered as he applied jelly to the area that Tails messed with. "Now, let's take a look at your foetus."  
Sonic got behind the couch. "Looks like I get to see what you're having first." he said.

Tails played with the bit of jelly she got between her index finger and thumb. "Funny coincidence that." She said.

Dr. Quack turned on the sonogram. "Well, this is it, kid." said Dr. Quack as he took the wand. "Are you ready for the first pictures of what you will be having?"

"Yeah." Tails replied with a smile.

_I can't believe I'm witnessing this moment before Amy. She's gonna be pissed about this and I don't care._ thought Sonic.  
"Okay 'Mom', let's see your bundle of joy." said Dr. Quack and applied the wand to Tails' belly.

The wand was applied and instantly, an object was on the screen. "What is that?" asked Sonic.  
"I believe a tail." answered Dr. Quack. "Well, someone's sonogram shy..."  
Everyone shares a giggle and the wand is moved around Tails. A lot of movement was going on inside, but it finally settled and the three got a clear view.... somewhat. "How lovely, someone is mooning us." said Dr. Quack. Tails let out a laugh.

"Well, at least we know that this kid is taking after 'mommy dearest here.' as we can plainly see by those twin tails." said Sonic as he rubbed Tails on the head.  
Dr. Quack moved the wand down slightly. "And look at that people, it's a girl." he said.

"A...girl? I've got a daughter?" Tails questioned.

"Just what are we looking at here?" asked Sonic.  
"The crotch of the baby." answered Dr. Quack. "There's no pole here and... o-kay, that's something."

"Huh? What?" Tails asked, slightly concerned.

"Looks swollen." said Sonic.  
"Nothing serious," Dr. Quack assures Tails, "it's just your daughter's erection." Sonic falls backwards. Tails nearly fell off the couch, if it wasn't for Quack.

"You know, Rouge has told me about you falling so much and I advise against that from here on out." said Dr. Quack.

"You advised it before..." Tails said as she got comfy again.

"Well you obviously forgotten, so I'll use this as a reminder." said Dr. Quack.

"Anyway. Erection?" Sonic questioned.

"That's right, you're used to having a guy's erection." and Dr. Quack removed the wand. "A girl's erection happens mostly due to the swelling of the labia, which is what happened with your daughter in this case. Nothing to worry about. The first erections of life usually happen in the womb. And sometimes, babies are born with erections."

"That's kinda weird..." Tails sweat-dropped.

"My son was born with one, and Sonic was too. But his went down after a while."

"TMI doc." said an embarrassed Sonic.

"Oh come on, it isn't that bad. Remember that one instant back in the day..." and dr. quack trailed off from saying any further words.

"There is something else Rouge helped me with." Dr. Quack continued. "She managed to give me a vial of your breast milk, Tails."

"I wondered where that went..." Tails uttered.

"Well, after Rouge gave me a vial, I took some and examined it under a microscope and found quite a shocking bit of news."

"Uhh....What?" Tails was getting concerned again.

"You mean shocking bit of information, doc." corrected Sonic.  
"Right, information." said Dr. Quack. "In any case, your milk has chaos energy in it, Tails. Rouge doesn't know what it means, but I think there's more to what you lactate than vital nutrients."

"Chaos energy?"

"Yes, chaos energy. The same kind of energy found in the chaos emeralds."  
Sonic was now on his feet. "Wait a minute, you mean to tell me that the same type of energy in the chaos emeralds is in Tails' breast milk?" he asked.  
"Yes."

"I know what Chaos energy is, what I don't know is why I'd be generating it in my boobs." Tails said.

"Neither do I, but Rouge believes that it had something to do with that Chimera crap." said Dr. Quack.  
"So to make layman of this situation, Tails' breasts are chaos emeralds?" asked Sonic.  
"No, but her breast milk can be treated like a liquid form of the sort." answered Dr. Quack. "So in other words, Tails just might be a living, breathing, chaos emerald... At least that's what Rouge thinks. I say it's poppycock, but I predict that your milk may be able to create chaos emeralds if it's crystallized."

"Oh god..." Tails rubbed her head. "So, I'm pregnant with an experiment and I might be able to create emeralds forged by gods..."

"Hey, you will not think of your daughter as an experiment!" Sonic scolded Tails.  
"Agreed." said Dr. Quack. "Especially since these conclusions haven't been proven."

Tails lowers her ears. "I wonder if it's possible to find out if there is a father to this baby."

"Not until after you give birth."

"I keep having horrible dreams..." Tails said. "Frequent every..4 or 5 days."

"Like what?" ask Sonic and Dr. Quack

"Well, it varies. One of them, I have a painful and gory birth, and give birth...." And she gulps slightly. "To a baby Eggman..."

"You know, Robotnik Jr. probably ceased functioning years ago." said Sonic. "And since Eggman's not a fox, your daughter will look nothing like him."

"Thankfully, that dream was just proven wrong." Tails said. "Another dream is also wrong, since it's about him raping me to 'fertilise the experimental egg.' Can't be true because it wasn't an egg and I'm already pregnant."

"By the way, you wouldn't happen to have that sample of breast milk still, would you?" asked Sonic.  
"Yeah, I still have it, but it isn't the same anymore." Dr. Quack answered.

"Why are you so curious Sonic?" Tails asked.

"Eh, just wondering... Marine actually drank some and said she wanted to inject chocolate syrup in your tits." Sonic answered.  
"I still have to give her a check-up from that reason alone." said Dr. Quack.  
"What happened to that milk sample?" asked Sonic.  
"It actually changed colour."

"I see." Tails said. "Doc, question. What are the chances that....Eggman....you know...used his own 'sample' to make the seminal fluid?"

"That... is a horrible thing to picture." said Dr. Quack disdainfully.  
"His old ass excuse for sperm... yeah right." said Sonic.

"Well...imagine how I feel." Tails said. "That's the 3rd damn dream..."

"Why did you want Tails milk anyway?" asked Dr. Quack.  
"Like I said, I was just wondering. Most women will cook a pregnant mother's breast milk and consume it to increase their..... Fertility..." and Sonic trailed off.

"Ya think Rouge wants to get pregnant then?" Tails asked with curiosity. "Taking 2 cups worth of my milk seems a little too much for simply examining."

"She did drink some." said Dr. Quack. "Anyway, I'm headed to the docks to give Marine and Rouge a check-up from consuming your breast milk. So if you two are ready to go..."

"One more question." Tails said. "Is it common for pregnant women to have constant...sex dreams?"

Dr. Quack looked at Sonic. "Tell me you didn't." said Dr. Quack.  
"Of course not, Amy will kill me." said Sonic.  
"I guess we can look at you on the inside before we can go, Tails."

"What? What's the problem?" Tails questioned.

"Nothing." Dr. Quack answered as he cleared the jelly off of Tails. "If you want, I can check your insides to see how you're healing before we go."

Tails blushed. "I wouldn't be comfortable about that outside of your hospital...or in front of Sonic."

Sonic shook his head. "Fine, let's put this away and take out the forceps. Then afterwards, I'll give Sonic a rubber and he can bless your insides."

Tails blushed furiously before she stood and walked away from Dr. Quack and Sonic, heading toward her room. "That's not funny!" She yelled at Dr. Quack. "But since it's all just a joke to you, then go and see your next patients alone!" And Tails went back to her room, slammed the door shut and made sure it was locked.

"Wasn't she the one who asked about pregnancy sex?" asked Sonic.  
"Yes." Dr. Quack answered. "I'll pick the lock and then we'll drag her out kicking and screaming."

*

"So, do you girls think Tails should get a baby shower?" asked Vanilla.

"Definitely." Tikal said.

"I wonder what to get her." said Cream.

"I still can't believe she's pregnant. And why was I the last to know?!" Amy moaned.

"You weren't the last to know." said Vanilla. "We were told at the exact same time... er, you were. I guessed early."

"Then how come you guys went as surprised as Myself, Sonic and Knuckles?" Amy questioned. "I didn't see any reactions from you guys at all."

"Despite my heritage as the daughter of a chief, I once trained as a nurse, so it's not all that surprising to me." Tikal lied.

"I agreed to keep from fainting to support Tails." Cream answered. "And what's with you being all mad at Tails all of a sudden?"

"I'm not mad." Amy replied. "I just always assumed out of us girls that I'd be the first one baring children. And suddenly a boy becomes a girl and then slaps that idea in my face. Not of her choice, naturally. But I..."  
"You're seriously that jealous of Tails?" Tikal asked. "I mean...seriously, would you **really** want to bare children the way she's being forced to?"

"And what about Dexter, doesn't he want children?" asked Cream.

"Dexter was just a made up boyfriend to make Sonic jealous." Amy said.  
"Which I heard failed miserably." Tikal shot at Amy.

"So you're jealous because Tails is the first mother?" asked Vanilla.

"A little..." Amy replied. "That and the chances it could be Sonics' too..."

"Now I doubt Sonic could father Tails' baby." said Cream. "I mean, those two were very close and if that's the case, he probably would've been giving it to Tails."

"No, you don't understand. Right before Eggman's sick plot, he told me he was 'trying to help me' because he had Sonics' 'love juice.' So...you know..." Amy explained.

"Eggman has tricked you a lot, Amy. So you wanna start believing stuff now?" asked Cream.

"I'm still not counting it out as a possibility. Something or someone has to father that child, you know."

"I think that's enough of that. Who cares what the father is? We are meant to be supporting Tails in her time of need and you're failing to have any insight but your own selfish greed." Tikal scolded Amy.

"And besides, I'm sure Tails will want a DNA test after the baby's born." added Vanilla.

"Oh, I had a funny experience the other day." Tikal said.

"Like what?" asked Cream.

"Well, you see. I was wondering through Mushroom Hill on Angel Island, for obvious reasons, Mushrooms. And I saw Shadow." Tikal explained.

"Go on."

"Well, I approached him and he was muttering something. I couldn't help but be curious, but knowing Shadow, he'd look at me, go 'humph' and warp away. So, I hid away and listened to him."

"What did he rant about?"

"About Tails." Tikal said. "He mentioned something about a 'trial' that was given to him by Vanilla, but he wasn't sure what he was meant to do and some of the things he mentioned were odd. Like his curiosity as to why he's suddenly began caring so much when he gave that up and why the whole issue makes him so mad." She continued. "But, I am curious. What _did_ you give him as a trial, Vanilla?"

"I want him to resolve things with Tails." Vanilla answered.

"I didn't know they were fighting..."

"Me either, resolve what?" Amy asked.

"Resolution doesn't always denote fighting." said Vanilla.

"What else is to resolve?" Tikal asked.

"Shadow thinks he can force things, but like I told him, he must use the opposite of force."

"So...you mean when he took the emerald from Tails place?"

"I'm confused. Shadow has to...return that emerald?" Amy asked.

"No, returning the emerald has nothing to do with the resolution." Vanilla answered.

"So, what's he gotta do? Suck up to Tails?"

"No, resolve things with Tails."

"Yeah, yeah, you're like a broken record. I'm still not getting it. How does he 'resolve' things when there's nothing to resolve?"

"There is much for them to resolve, you just don't see it."

"Something tells me that you're not going to say, either."

"No you can't help Shadow resolve things with Tails."

"Why would I wanna help that arrogant prick do anything?" Amy pouted.

"Looks like you may need to resolve things with Shadow and with Tails."

"I don't gotta resolve nothin'." Amy said. "I got no qualms with Tails and there's no way I'd want to resolve anything with Shadow even if there was something to resolve."

"Fine, I'll just keep this satin dress until Cream can wear it."

"Hey! Don't try and blackmail me with a dress, I'm not that easy!" Amy got angry.

"It was that one satin dress you've had your eyes on for months, but didn't have the money for... I guess you don't want it anymore... or maybe you found a cheaper knockoff."

"And let's say I can't resolve anything with Shadow cause he's a dickhead, what then?" Amy countered.

"Suck his dickhead." Vanilla joked and stuck out her tongue.

"Okay, no way. I'm not sucking Shadow off for all the dresses in the world!" Amy was really agitated this part. "How dare you test my loyalty to Sonic?!"

"You fell for that joke hook, line and stinker." said Cream. "Besides, you can always pretend that it's Sonic."

"Alright, Get out! Out! All of you!" Amy roared.

"Geez, take a chill pill..." Tikal sweat dropped.

"Cream, apologize to Amy." said Vanilla.  
"Yes mother." said Cream. "Amy, I'm sorry that I made fun of your love life."

"You're forgiven...But I still want you all to get out of my house." Amy replied.

"Fine, I'm leaving." said Vanilla. "Cream, let's go and check on Rouge."  
"Yes mother." said Cream.  
"And while we're at it, look at some baby things for Tails."

Before the rabbits leave however, Amy turns to Tikal.  
"That includes you." She said.  
"Wait, but I didn't say any-..."  
"I said, get out."  
"You know what, fine, you can head off and masturbate furiously to Sonic since you're so love-sick about him that you can't take a simple joke and take it out on people who didn't do anything. It's not like Sonic would go for you anyway." Whap! Amy's hand went right across Tikal's face.

"What was that?" asked Cream.  
"We better go and find out." answered Vanilla.

The girls head back up the stairs to see Amy panting as her coffee table was completely destroyed and Tikal in the middle of it.


	13. Chapter 13

(((A/N's: Before this story goes on, the authors want to take the time out to clear up a matter regarding Tails previously (it somehow wasn't added to composition while tired, oops). That portion of the story wasn't meant to offend or scare any readers away, but it's just one of the reasons about the current story rating. Trust us, we'll try not to disturb people come time for the birthing scene.)))

Vanilla runs in and quickly checks on Tikal, who was face down in the debris of the destroyed coffee table. Cream on the other hand ran in and pulled the angry Amy away from the two before giving her a quick and hard 'snap me out of it' slap to the face, which did bring Amy to her senses.  
"What the hell have you done?!" Cream yelled at Amy.  
"Wha? I...but...She was gonna attack me, so I fought back." Amy replied, rubbing her cheek.

"Tikal, speak to me. Are you okay?" Vanilla asked as she assisted the hurt echidna. Tikal simply gave a dazed moan. Vanilla then checked her over, making sure she wasn't pierced by any sharp wood debris. After checking she was okay, Tikal was lifted onto Vanilla's back and she turned to Cream. "Let's go Cream, leave Amy here and let her think about what she's done." Vanilla ordered as she left the room. Cream walked to the door and turned to Amy, shaking her head a little before she left and closed it behind her.

*

Sonic and Dr. Quack managed to carry Tails' kicking and screaming frame down the beach. Neither of them were happy, but things had to be done. Despite all of her squirming, Tails was carried off without having to worry about falling or straining herself.  
After a while Tails had calmed down however, having worn herself out. She still wasn't happy herself, but eventually was let go and followed obediently. "You know you could have at LEAST forced me into decent clothing..." She moaned.

"Feel free to remove the robe and walk around like usual." said Dr. Quack.

"Not happening." Tails replied.

"By the way, you still didn't get your insides blessed."

Tails stopped and turned around. "I'm going back..." She said.

"I guess she wants to be carried the whole way." Dr. Quack shrugged.  
"Eh, why not? I don't have any plans today." said Sonic.  
"Let's go and grab her then."

As they went to grab Tails, she managed to evade the first attempt. "I want some clothes! I'm not going to be seen in this! And you completely took my question the wrong way!" She yelled at them.

"Than what did you mean?" asked Sonic.

"I asked if it was common for pregnant girls to have sex DREAMS. You know, they're the little spiral of adventure that your subconscious sends you through in your sleep. I didn't ask anything about having sex whilst pregnant!" Tails replied.

"Dreams are only as real as they are manifested in reality." said Dr. Quack. "Sometimes, pregnant women want sex because they haven't had it, haven't had it in a while, or if it's prescribed by the doctor to induce labour."

"Well, thanks for clearing that up. Now if you'll excuse me. I'm going to get some decent clothes." And Tails continued on back toward the house.

"You got two minutes!" Sonic shouted.

"Yeah right, as if you'll wait that long." Tails retorted.

Sonic and Dr. Quack watch Tails enter the house. "You know, I just now noticed this." said Sonic.  
"What's that?" asked Dr. Quack.  
"Tails has a nice ass."

Tails went to her room and took off the robe she was wearing and walked around, picking up bits and pieces she felt like wearing. She'd picked out a blue maternity dress and a red jumper. She picked out a maternity bra and some underwear and put them on, before she put on her dress and then the jumper, despite the clash of colours, she looked okay. She slipped on her favourite shoes and pulled her tails out of the hole she cut in the dress and then gave them a quick brush. She then brushed her hair and neatened it. By this time, the 2 minutes she was granted were up, but she didn't worry too much and moved into the bathroom. Here she made sure that her teeth were as white as they should be and that there wasn't anything that people would notice on her face. She gave her face a quick wash and sighed, letting the water drip from her snout into the sink. _Those boys...I can't believe they'd embarrass me like that. Thank god no one was around or I'd...I'd have made sure they were sorry for it..._ she thought. Tails left the bathroom upon drying her face and headed out the door, making sure it was all locked up. She headed on back over.  
"Perhaps you should give her a playful slap on the backside then?" Dr Quack joked whilst she was out of hearing range.

"Nah, we're too close for that." Sonic answered.  
"So what if you were the one in her little sex dream. Then what?" and Dr. Quack smirked.  
"A lot of girls have sexual fantasies about me. Mostly Amy, but a lot do."  
"And if Tails really does want to have sex with you, then what?"  
"Then... then... You know, I haven't really thought of that."

"Well think about it, because you never know, she might ask for it."

Tails reached the two. "What're you babbling about? You're still mocking me on my little question, aren't you?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Nope, we were just discussing whether or not to let you fly around." said Sonic.

"Oh, well, I'd probably not anyway." Tails replied.

"You probably can't, seeing as you'll be weighed down."

"And due to that, I get tired quicker than I used to." Tails said. "So it'd be bad if I were a bit too high to call safe and felt too tired to keep flying."

"Well, let's get to Rouge and the Ocean Tornado." said Dr. Quack.

After some walking, Tails let out a sharp yawn and stretched her arms. "Hey, Sonic, what's for dinner later? Any ideas?"

"Polish sausage?" asked Sonic.  
"Hmm...maybe." Tails replied. "Could try including some Mexican BBQ Sauce, perhaps..." Tails went into thought.

"Or two baked potatoes." offered Dr. Quack.

"Maybe. What about Lamb Couscous?" Tails asked.

"Couscous? I remember you making that for Cream once." said Sonic.

"Yeah, haven't had it in some time." _And the cravings begin._ Thought Dr. Quack. "I'd go for a bit of lamb." Tails continued. "Would you like that? Or are you sticking with Polish sausages and spuds?"

"I'm trying not to get hungry." said Sonic. _Or in the mood._ Dr. Quack joked mentally.

"Oh...sorry." Tails said, lowering her ears.

"Hey, I guess you did get cut off from the meal." said Sonic.

"What do you mean?"

"After that news crap, you didn't get to finish the pancakes and scrambled eggs."

"It put me off eating..."

"Well, we can grab a burger on the way." said Dr. Quack.

"I can live with that." Tails said. She rubbed her belly a little. "I'm sure she won't complain."

"So I guess I should start buying pink booties then?" asked Sonic.

"If you feel you need to. But, I didn't know you liked to wear that sort of thing." Tails teased.

"Too small for me."

"Anyway, I'm wondering, did you print any pictures of my baby, or do I have to wait until the next sonogram?" Tails asked Dr Quack.

"I did," Dr. Quack answered, "and we'll look them over on the way."

Tails smiled. "Okay."

*

The three finally got to the docks and were headed to the Ocean Tornado. The burgers were fine, but it seemed that Tails ended up eating more than just one. "Man, you really can put it away." said Sonic.

"Hey, you try eating for two and see how much you'd put away." Tails retorted, opening her 4th burger from its packaging.

"I guess Sonic has lost to 'the challenge' for a change." said Dr. Quack.  
"Preggo's have an unfair advantage." Sonic pouted.

"All's fare in love and war. What was it again? 'Win by any means necessary' you said?" Tails countered.

"That's what you get for using the MILF card." joked Dr. Quack.  
"Do you even know what MILF stands for?" asked Sonic.  
"Yes."

"Well. Here we are." Tails said, after swallowing her mouthful. "Shall we board?" The three were at the Ocean Tornado now.

"Let's." answered Dr. Quack.

The three board the ship, only to find the deck empty. "Excuse me a moment." and Tails left the two and went to the horn of the ship before sounding it, causing seagulls all around to fly off in terror, squawking away. It was only when they heard crashing noises inside they knew someone was about, and a not so happy cat came on deck, hands blazing.

"Who the **fuck **is playing with the ship's horn!" She barked, seeing the two boys and Tails returning to them.

"Did we catch you at a bad time?" asked Sonic.

"Not at all, I was just about ready to get the shopping when a certain someone sounded the horn and **scared the crap out of me!** I swear, haven't you people heard of knocking?!"

"At least you weren't woke up from your nap." and out came Marine. "Well, look at my favourite MILF. You're all swollen and everything."

And Tails finished her burger. "Oh, so you noticed, and here I thought something strange was going on with my mirror." Tails replied.

"Unless you got a fun house mirror... then I wanna see myself. I'd probably be all freaky and stuff." and Marine stuck out her tongue.

"Nah, you'd look normal." Tails replied by sticking hers out as well.

"Anyway, I need to examine you, Marine." said Dr. Quack.  
"Examine me... well.... I guess I could use a follow up on my ribs."

"I'll probably have to examine you as well, Blaze."

"Huh? Why me?" Blaze questioned.

"Why not? Or are you afraid of the doctor?"

"I'm not comfortable with checkups."

"I promise I won't use any needles."

"Not the point. I don't like checkups."  
"Oh come on, Blaze. It's not like he's going to take forceps and open your insides." Tails told the cat.

"Fine, I'll be a brave girl and you can examine me right here on the deck, doc." said Marine. "I'm a big girl... unlike some of us present."

And Marine would have gotten a swift blow to the head, if Blaze wasn't worried about hurting her any further than she already was. "You're lucky you have rib problems and you're lucky you're pregnant." Blaze barked at the two girls.

"Anyway, Marine, despite you wanting to be a little braver than Blaze, there's a difference between brave and dignity, so go and get examined inside." Tails said.

"Who's the captain of the ship?" asked Marine.

"Whose ship is this?" Tails countered.

"Who's running the check-up here?" questioned Dr. Quack.

"And the Doc wins." said a familiar voice. The crew look to see Rouge appear.

"Good, because you're last." said Dr. Quack. "Now if the captain would be so kind as to show me her quarters."  
"Sure, come this way." said Marine and she led Dr. Quack inside.  
"How's your leg?" Sonic asked Rouge.

"Well, my leg hurts, but at least my club's insurance does me justice." Rouge answered.

"Is it up and running yet?" Tails asked.

"Up, but not running. All of the fixing up was completed thanks to Omega, Gmerl and everyone else. And I used the insurance money to buy more tables, chairs, supplies and the rest. I'll pay for the drinks stacked up in the club out of pocket."

"So long as you're back in business soon, that's all that matters. Let's just hope egghead doesn't decide to raid it again..."

"So, what's so scary about a check-up?" Sonic asked Blaze.  
"I don't want to talk about it." Blaze replied.  
"No one really likes to get checked up, Blaze. It's part of life though." Tails said.

"Maybe she just had a bad experience as a child." guessed Rouge. Blaze sighed.

Tails simply yawned and placed both hands on her belly. "I'm going to find a seat."

Marine and Dr. Quack rejoin everyone. "Well, no swelling, but I'll call you if I need anything." said Marine.  
"Good." said Dr. Quack. "Now Blaze, it's your turn."

"I'll pass." She said.

Dr. Quack sighed. "It looks like we're gonna have to do this with her kicking and screaming."  
"I have my fireproof gloves on if it helps." said Marine.

Tails walked over to Blaze. "I'll make you a fare deal." She said. "I didn't want to have my insides checked when I was back at Sonics' place, so if you take your check-up, I'll let the doc give me a check-up on the ship." She said to Blaze. Blaze thought for a moment and looked around ship.

"Deal." She said, and the girls shook on it.

Tails looked at Dr Quack. "You're welcome." She said, before going and sitting on the ships edge.

"Just don't fall off." said Dr. Quack. "Now Blaze, let's get inside..."

"I'll be fine." Tails replied. Blaze on the other hand let out a long sigh and went into the ship, followed by Dr Quack.

"For some odd reason, Dr. Quack wondered about me having swollen hootz." said Marine.

Tails looked over her shoulder. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"He didn't say. My ribs were fine, but wondered if there was in unexpected swelling in my hootz. Of course there isn't, but I guess its standard procedure."

"I see." Tails replied. "Well, fear not, I doubt your breasts would be anywhere near as swollen as mine, even if they were."

"That was probably why Blaze doesn't like getting an exam." said Rouge.

"And Tails, you know you love it really." Sonic said. "I hear you making weird noises in the bathroom when you...what is it? Milk yourself?"  
"Shut up Sonic." Tails said with a blush on her face.

"I guess I'm to blame for that one." said Rouge with a sweat drop.

"Why's that?" Sonic asked.  
"Don't even go there." Tails retorted.

"I guess Sonic wants some of you too." Marine joked.

Tails nearly fell off ship, but Sonic sped in and stopped her. "Be careful Tails!" he scolded.  
"Marine!!" Tails yelled at Marine. "Not kosher!"

Dr. Quack and Blaze rejoin everyone on the deck and Blaze wasn't so happy. "See, that wasn't so bad." he assured her.

Blaze doesn't reply and looks at Tails. "You better keep to your end of the bargain." She told the fox.  
"Why wouldn't I? Despite the fact my check-up is probably 100 times more embarrassing than yours." Tails retorted.

"She doesn't have to crack open like you do." said Dr. Quack. "Now let's get going... or does the deal specify this being out in the open?"

"No, I said I'd have my check-up. I didn't say everyone can see you play with my insides..." Tails narrowed her eyes. "Besides, it might give Marine an orgasm."

"Fine, we'll do this in your quarters." The two then went off to Tails quarters.

"This is quite the room you have for yourself." said Dr. Quack.

"I should know, I built it." Tails replied. She locked the door behind them, turned the light on and drew the curtains closed; making especially sure that there wasn't a sneak peek line.

"Well, get comfortable. You should know the drill by now."

"I would know the drill in the same room I was in last time. Otherwise, I got no clue..." Tails blushed slightly.

"When you're ready, lay on the bed and spread 'em." Dr. Quack said.

"I'll assume to take my panties off, that's not really your job, is it?" Tails stuck her tongue out.

"Not unless you really trust me."

"I think having someone else remove my panties would be a form of love making and that definitely is not the case here." Tails said as she walked over to the bed and sat herself down. She used her feet to remove her shoes and lifted the dress up to her panties and took them off, making sure the hem of the dress kept her from being totally embarrassed. She then got comfortable on the bed. "Oh and no more wisecracks about Sonic 'blessing my insides'."

_Young girls today...._ thought Dr. Quack. "Deal." he said.

_This has to be the most embarrassing check-up procedure ever..._ Tails mentally moaned. _I hope it doesn't take long either._

"Still not fully relaxed I see." said Dr. Quack as he sat down. "I can wait."

"This isn't exactly the nicest of procedures, you know..." Tails said. "And Tikal's not doing that 'singing trick' she did last time either."

Dr. Quack sat next to Tails. "Well, I guess there isn't much concern for you now, is there?" he asked and started reaching into his bag.

"Not much, but I still have concerns." Tails replied.

"I know, I can't use the forceps in your current state."

Tails then sighs with a blush on her face and spreads em. "That better?"

"Marine isn't trying to peek you know."

"It's not her I'm worried about...." Tails uttered.

"Is it the sex dreams?"

"Some of them I liked, but some of them were.......Well...odd..." Tails said.

Dr. Quack used the forceps. "So personally, which of your friends would you rather have sex with?"

"Do I have to answer that?"

"No, you don't have to." and Dr. Quack presses the handles of the forceps.

"Sonic..." She said. _Figures.... the hedgehog would always be right._ Thought Dr. Quack as he looked at Tails' insides. "I guess it's cause I've known him the longest, and he's been so sweet since I told him...even if he still gives me odd looks from time to time..."

"And if you had to choose between one of your female friends?" asked Dr. Quack.

"Oh, please don't remind me..." Tails sighed.

"Actually, I was reminded of something that was brought to my attention."

"And that is?"

"Cream. She said something about living life as a boy."

"Huh?" Tails was curious now. "I see...She never said anything like that to me."

"I guess it was just stress. Well, looks like all of your tears and scrapes are gone and you look healthy inside again."

"Well, it did stop hurting quite some time ago, I figured I got used to it."

"No, you're pink on the inside and the tears are gone. Have you felt sensitive administering your prescriptions?"

"Maybe..." Tails replied.

"Tell me how it feels when you do."

"The opposite of pain." Tails replied.

"Any odd sensations?"

"What would you consider odd?"

"Weird feelings, like having to take a leak."

"Sometimes, even though I'd only gone moments before."

"Have you actually taken a leak after application?"

"No."

"Then you should be fine." and Dr. Quack removed the forceps. "Well, you should finish using what you have. You probably won't need a refill on your prescriptions at this time. But let me know if it burns or if any inflammation occurs."

"Okay." And Tails closes her legs and sits up.

"By the way, try not to get too carried away, if you do decide to make your dreams a reality."

"Only two have been in my dreams, Sonic won't have sex with me even if I was gagging for it and that other....well, there's no chance there. It is still a weird dream for me though..." Tails said.

Dr. Quack cleans off the forceps with a sterile wipe. "Point taken." said Dr. Quack.

"Oh, and the girl issue. I have suspicions that Marine wants me to breast feed her and Cream asked me for head." Tails blushed.

"_That's probably why Cream wants to be a guy._ Well, I have no problem with your sexuality, just as long as you're safe and don't exert yourself. Now let's go... after you put your panties back on."

Tails stands up off the bed and picks her panties up, slipping them on quickly, then she put her shoes on. She gives her belly a rub. "Now, about those pictures..."

"Don't forget to turn off the light." Tails walked over and opened the curtain, then went and turned the light off and unlocked the door.

"Those shots will be a group event." said Dr. Quack. "But first, I have to examine a bat."

"Okay then." And the two leave the room and head back to the group.

"Okay Rouge, your turn." said Dr. Quack.  
"Fine, right this way." said Rouge and led Dr. Quack to her quarters.  
"So, how did everything go?" asked Marine.

"I'm healed inside it seems." Tails replied.

"That's good to know, Cream will be excited to know about that."

"And why's that?"

"When we were fixing up Club Rouge, she went on about how worried she was about you in the can. Then she ranted about some dream where you got so big and blew up."

"Oh yeah, I already promised her I'm not going to pop..." Tails scratched her head.

"Not in that sense anyway."

"Okay, now you've lost me."

Dr. Quack and Rouge rejoin everyone. "Lust let me know if you get any painful swelling." said Dr. Quack.  
"No problem." said Rouge.  
"Now then, I believe Tails has something to tell everyone..."

"That I do." Tails replied with a smile. "But, I wonder if I should announce when we get everyone together."

"Fine, we can wait until then." said Dr. Quack.

"I'm curious now." Blaze said.

"Me too." added Marine.

"Well..." And Tails dragged. "No, you have to wait." She teased.

"Fine, let's get people together and then you'll tell us." said Rouge.

"I'll give Amy a ring and find out where she is." Tails said as she pulled her mobile phone. "Or, shall I call Cream and you call Amy?" She asked Rouge.

"Go ahead, this is your thunder." Rouge answered.

"Calling Cream then." And Tails speed dialled Cream. Rouge pulled a phone and dialled Amy's number, however, she went straight into answer phone.

"Is something the matter, luv?" asked Marine.  
"Amy's phone is off." Rouge answered.

"Odd..." Tails said, waiting for Cream's answer.

"Amy's phone off, weird." said Marine.

"I doubt she's babysitting Cream this time." Tails said. "Cream's not answering..."

"Should we check on them?" asked Rouge.

Tails hangs up her phone. "Yes, we should. I'll see if they're at home." And Tails called Vanilla's house.

"Well, I bet they aren't reaching the phone." said Dr. Quack.

After 30 seconds, Tails went into answer phone and hung up. "Clearly not."

"Lemme try something." said Rouge and dialled a number on her phone. "This one should answer."

"Okay." And the group waited on Rouge's phone call.

"Hello?"  
Rouge was shocked. "Vanilla, this is Tikal's phone." she said.  
"Yeah... Tikal is a bit conked out at the moment."  
"How.... who?"  
"Amy. Apparently, she went postal over Sonic and laid that hammer into her. Sent Tikal through a table."

"What's up, Rouge?" Tails asked.

"Where are you now?" asked Rouge.  
"Waiting at the hospital." Vanilla answered.  
"We're on our way." and Rouge hung up the phone. "Amy went postal on Tikal and Vanilla is at the hospital with her." she told the crew. Sonic took notice to this and just sped off.  
"Sonic?" Tails questioned, but it was long too late. "Shit!" She cursed. "Well, I know where he's gone, so let's go to the hospital." She said to the crew.

*

Sonic dashed through the city at his typical speed until he'd reached Amy's apartment. He casually walked inside and up the stairs to Amy's door, which was on the floor.  
"Uhh...Amy?" He asked, stepping over the door. As he entered the house everything that used to be was no longer intact. The shelving units were destroyed along with their contents and the light was bust. The television was smashed and sparking and the cabinet it was on smashed to the floor. Sonic could tell some serious rage happened in here and Amy's Hammer was the weapon in question. He walked over to the Television and pulled the plug out the socket. He wondered into the kitchen and saw the long light flashing on and off, dangling from the roof. "Amy?" He called again. No response. He continued on until he reached her bedroom and opened the door, her bed had been lifted from its legs and was smashed against the wall and the bedside cabinet was mashed into the floor. Amy was sat with her feet next to her backside in the middle of the room and her Hammer was jammed into the wall. "Amy!" Sonic yelled at her. "Why won't you answer me?"

"Sonic..." She said.  
"What the hell is wrong with you? What happened to your place?" Sonic asked.  
"I was angry."  
"That's not the point. Why did you attack Tikal?!" Sonic yelled.  
"Because...she said I didn't have a chance with you."  
"And that's a reason to attack her?!" Sonic was pissed. "That's not an excuse to attack your friends!" Amy shot her head over her shoulder.  
"She's not a friend of mine!" She barked.  
"Well she's a friend of mine! And you had no right to attack her for any reason."  
"She was going to attack me."  
"Tikal's a pacifist. She wouldn't hurt a fly if it could be avoided."  
"She questioned my love for you! And for that she had to be punished, so I slapped her!"  
"You must have done a lot more than slap her to put her in the hospital, Amy."  
"She went to attack me, so I had to defend myself."

"By slamming her into a table?!"  
"That's right, by pushing her through my table. I didn't mean for it to go that way, but it did." Amy stood up and turned to Sonic, and he could see clearly by her face she was a mess.  
"What happened to you Amy? I knew you were obsessed with me, but this is too much, even for you." Sonic folded his arms.  
"Don't you see, Sonic? I love you like nothing in the world. I'd do anything to be with you."  
"Don't hurt my friends, oops, you've done that already."

"But Sonic...Sonic, I want your babies." Amy blurted. "Get me pregnant Sonic! Right now!"  
"Not a chance." Sonic retorted. "As if I'd want to have children with you, seeing what you've done to this place, yeah, this is really child friendly."  
"But Tails is pregnant, and you don't mind that."  
"So this is what this is about? That Tails is pregnant?" Sonic was getting even angrier.  
"Please Sonic, I want to be with you, I want your babies, I'll do anything." Amy grabbed Sonics' hands and lifted them onto her breasts. "Please." Sonic pulled his hands back.  
"No way Amy." He told her. "There's no way I'd ever want to be with you. Not now. Not after what you've done. You've got a lot of making up to do, once you've sorted out your fucked up head, then come talk to me. I'll even set you up a counsellor, but you need to get yourself sorted."

"But...But Sonic..."  
"No, Amy!" Sonic yelled. "I don't want to be with someone who takes petty comments and spats to the point of hospitalising their friends."  
"But..."  
"Sort yourself out." And Sonic left the building.  
"Sonic! Sonic! Wait! Come back Sonic! Please!" Amy cried, but Sonic wasn't listening, he continued to leave. "Please..." Amy then began to cry. She looked around the room she was in and Sonics' words were sinking in. _What have I become? Ever since Tails told us she was pregnant...and then my stupid, stupid mind telling me that there is a chance it's Sonics'...I've been so messed up. I'm sorry...._ "I'm sorry...I'm sorry....I'm so, so sorry..." She cried.

Tails and crew had arrived at the hospital and looked around, after no luck finding them in the main area, Tails went and asked at reception about Tikal.  
"She's currently in examination, but the people who brought her in are at the waiting room." The woman at the desk told her.  
"Okay, thanks." And Tails returned to the group. "Let's go to the waiting room, Vanilla and Cream are there." She said, and the crew nodded.  
"I think I'll go and see how the patient is doing." And off Dr Quack went. The rest went to the waiting room.

The group entered and Cream and Vanilla looked up at them as they did.  
"So, how is she?" Rouge asked.  
"She wasn't good when we brought her in, we don't know the details yet." Vanilla said.  
"What happened anyway?" Blaze asked.  
"Well, we were over at Amy's place having a chat before we planned to head out and shop." Vanilla began. "We were going to come and find you to see if you'd like to join us, but then things became a little unfriendly as topics were brought up that weren't to Amy's liking."  
"What kind of topics?" Tails asked.  
"Well, Shadow, mainly. Tikal was talking about how she found him muttering to himself in Mushroom Hill, and about how he's on a test to get my emerald."  
"What kind of test?"  
"A resolution test." Vanilla said. "Anyway, Amy then questioned on how Shadow was to resolve things, but I refused to tell her, as I don't want Shadow to be helped or told how to do it. She then commented about why she'd want to help someone she doesn't like. I told her that she clearly must resolve things with both Shadow and yourself, Tails..."  
"Why me?"  
"She's envious of your pregnancy."  
"Why would she be jealous of that?"  
"She thinks it's Sonics'."  
"That's stupid."  
"Anyway, she then asked how she was to resolve things if he was a 'dickhead', I commented she should suck his dick head, as a joke. But she took this seriously. Cream then made fun, leading to me grounding her and Amy kicking us out. Tikal wasn't happy that Amy was taking things out on her when she didn't do anything, so she put her straight and said a few choice words she could have chosen better, and got a slap. We left and the next thing we knew, there was a crash and we found Tikal impaled in a table." Vanilla explained.

"What's wrong with Amy...I've never known her to flip out like that." Rouge said.  
"Sonic was right, mates. She is bonzor scary..." Marine gulped.

"Maybe I should go and put her in her place." Rouge said, pissed.  
"Don't bother; I'm sure Sonics' done that already." Tails said. "I'm gonna sit and wait here." And Tails walked over to the chairs, taking a seat. Everyone else then took a seat somewhere and waited, the only noise being the ticking of the clock.

"Well, the rest of us have a clean bill of health at least." said Marine.

"Yeah, both me and baby are good and healthy." Tails added.

"So, Cream. How are things with you?" Blaze asked the quiet young doe.

"Let's just say I feel bad." Cream answered. "I screwed up again... If it isn't Tails, it's Amy. If it isn't Amy, is Mom. If it isn't Mom, it's someone else."

Tails stood up and walked over to Cream, taking the seat next to her. She pulls the doe into a hug. "Don't feel bad, okay? It's not your fault." She comforted her.

"Yes it is this time. Amy's my... my sister and because I went off, Tikal got hurt."  
"Now I'm partially to blame on this one." said Vanilla. "Cream, this is one of my examples that I want you to learn from and never repeat."  
"Yes, mother." Tails rubbed Cream's shoulder comfortingly.  
"Well, whatever happened, Amy was still in the wrong here. No petty spat should make her put anyone in hospital unless he's a big jolly piece of worthless shit." Rouge said, referring to Eggman.

"I'm angry that it's been so long and he still hasn't received his punishment." Blaze growled.

A nurse walks in the door. "Who was it who brought in a Ms. Tikal?" She asked.

"How is she?" asked Vanilla as she stood.

"I'm afraid she's had a very nasty blow to the head, enough to cause a concussion, but luckily she doesn't have a skull fracture. She also has a fractured left arm and severe bruising on her head and some other locations on her body. We will have to keep her on 24 hour observation to make sure she recovers well." The nurse explained. "We don't believe her life is threatened however. She should recover without any problems."

"At least she's okay." Tails said.  
"Yeah. Poor girl." Rouge added. "I still want to hurt Amy for this..."

"So much for her talk show tonight." said Marine.

"That'll have to be cancelled. That's a shame." Tails sighed. "I actually enjoy watching that."

"Not unless someone decides to volunteer." in walks Knuckles. "So, what's the damage?" The nurse took her leave.  
"Concussion and fractured arm, bruising, but she's good to recover." Tails stated. "And who'd volunteer? You?"

"Please, I'm not the counsellor type." said Knuckles as he folded his arms. "Like I said, who's gonna volunteer?"

"You know who the people are tonight?" Tails asked.

"Of course, but I'm the stage security."

"Well, what problem are they coming with?"

"Tikal doesn't tell me that."

"Sorry, I do a lot of things, but counselling? Not my cup of tea." Rouge said.  
"You won't see me doing that either." Blaze said.  
"Well, fine. If she really needs me to, I'll do it." Tails replied. "Unless someone else wants to."

"You're not doing it, Miley." said Knuckles.

"Why not?" Tails pouted.

"You're pregnant, enough said. And I'd rather see Cream take Tikal's place before I see you."

"So because I am pregnant, I'm useless?" Tails was annoyed now.

"I think he means that Miley Inari's been in the news enough." said Marine.

"Why would that be a problem?"

Knuckles simply glared at the fox. "I do agree with Knuckles though," said Marine. "Cream would make a good talk show host. She certainly has the demeanour for it."  
"Forget it, Cream's too young to deal with other people's problems." said Vanilla. "I'll do it myself, granted someone takes me to the studio."  
"I can do that." said Knuckles.

Tails then stood and walked to the door. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going home." And out the door she walks.  
"What's gotten up her skirt?" Rouge asked.

"Hey, wait up. I wanna talk to you." said Marine as she went after Tails.

"Should we really be letting her wonder off alone?" Blaze questioned.

"She won't get far." Vanilla answered.

"Why not?"

"Trust me. That fox may be quick to leave, but pregnancy hinders movement."

"Point taken." Blaze said.

Meanwhile, back with Tails, who has just left the hospital, with Marine in toe.

"Now hold on just a minute. What is the big deal with you all of a sudden?" Marine asked.

"Leave me alone, Marine..." Tails said back, still walking.

"Look, you can't just up and leave like this. Don't forget that we're your friends. You can't just walk out on us."

Tails stops walking. "Ever since I got pregnant, all I've been is a burden to everyone. Always under watch, always in other people's houses and under their care as if I were a child younger than Cream. I didn't know being pregnant made me so useless that I can't even help something where I'm just sat talking to people." She said. "I wish things were back to when everyone thought I was a boy, at least I wasn't a burden then."

"You aren't a burden... not to me anyways."

"Thanks Marine. But you're the only one who thinks that. To everyone else, I'm just a useless pregnant burden."

"Okay, I was wrong about what I just said. No one thinks you're a burden, so quit telling yourself that you are one."

"I wanna be on my own..." And Tails keeps walking.

"Too bad, you won't get that luxury." and Marine walks with Tails.

"No, because everyone has to watch poor little defenceless Tails." Tails uttered.

"You're just as mad at feeling useless as Amy is mad at you being pregnant..."

"Have I beaten you to a pulp yet?"

"Have you gotten over yourself yet?"

"Just leave me alone..."

"Please listen to reason..."

"Yes, Tails, because you never know quite who's going to show up when you're the least protected." Said a nasty familiar voice, which then laughed madly.  
"Oh geez..." Tails said.  
"Now, if the midget will just stand aside and you come peacefully, I won't have to use brute force." Eggman landed in a large machine, it took the shape of a human, and his hover pod was the head.

"You..." Marine said.

"Yes, me." Eggman laughed. "Now come alone peacefully, maybe I'll take the raccoon as extra bait." The centre of the machines body opened up to reveal a hand in a cage, holding a metal Sonic. It opened and the Metal Sonic leaped out.  
"You know, Sonic or Shadow are probably watching so you're about to get a busted machine, if they are that merciless." Tails said.  
"Oh, I don't think so. I've checked quite well, Sonics' quite busy getting head from Amy and Shadow is currently being killed by 1000 Metal Sonics and 3 new prototypes." Eggman bragged.  
"As if. You don't have the power to overwhelm Shadow and Sonic wouldn't go for Amy if they needed to repopulate the planet." Tails countered.  
"That's what you think, but hey, let's just see about that. Metal, knock out the Raccoon." Eggman ordered. Metal Sonic then spin-dashed and sped towards Marine, who blocked to defend herself, however it exploded before reaching her and dust flew everywhere. "What's this?!" Eggman yelled.

"Can someone fill me in?" asked Marine. Tails stepped back from the dust. A figure stands within it and the dust clears.  
"Well, well. I come for a visit and I still end up fighting." Said Shade, looking up at Eggman.

"Oh, it's you again. Why is there always one pest who insists on getting in my way. Never mind, I'll just have to take you out as well." And Eggman shot a missile at Shade who knocked it into the air, it exploded, not harming anything, but Eggman took this distraction time as a perfect opportunity to shoot the large hand out to grab Tails. However, Shade anticipated this and got in the way, activated her blade and destroyed the arm before standing guard.  
"You'll need to do better than that to get by me." She told him. The noise at this time had attracted the attention of our hospital dwellers, the missile was loud enough to cause concern and Knuckles quickly headed to the scene.

Shade leaped forward and into the cage, which locked shut as she did and closed her in. However, she sliced away, causing the machine to fall apart and Eggman's cockpit to eject. "Oh, curse you, you annoying echidna." And Eggman took off. Shade dusted herself off and looked over to the girls, Knuckles just arriving.  
"Shade?" He questioned.  
"Hi." She said, and then looked at Tails. "You look very different since I last saw you..." She said.

"Well, that's what you get when you turn out to really be a girl and pregnant." Tails said.  
"Wow, since when did that happen? Looks like I've been missing a few things."

"So, anyone wanna fill me in now?" asked Marine.

"Simple. I just saved you." Shade said.

Vanilla, Cream and Rouge finally showed up to see what's going on. "Well, looks like we owe you one, don't we?" asked Rouge.

"Not really." Shade replied.

"Anyway, I take it you've met Marine."

"The Raccoon? Just now, yes, but not formally." Shade replied.

"Anyway, I'm Captain Marine, and-"  
"Looks like we have another echidna in our midst." Out walks Blaze. "Anyway, that's Marine and I'm Blaze. And you are?"

"I'm called Shade." She replied.

"Nice suit." said Marine. "How do I get those kind of threads?"

"You don't." Shade replied.

"Aren't you a killjoy?"

"What's the point in telling you a lie that you could get one of these suits?"

"Anyway Shade, I'm Cream's mother Vanilla." Vanilla introduced herself. "My daughter has said some interesting things about you."

"I'm sure. It's nice to meet you." Shade said. "Where's Sonic, anyway?"

"He had to run."

"I see." Shade said. "So, I'm curious, what does that man want with you, Tails?" Shade asked.  
"Long story." Tails replied.

"Well, looks like I'll need your help to tonight." said Vanilla. "That is of course, you can handle a few rowdy heads..."

"Being a former lieutenant, a little security is a simple task for me." Shade said.

"Perfect. Knuckles will show us the way then." Shade nods.  
"Can I go home now?" Tails asked.

"And risk what happened again?" asked Marine.  
"We didn't get a chance to work on your place though..." said Rouge.

"I'm going back to Sonics' place..." Tails said. "I just want to go somewhere where I can relax."

"There's always the Ocean Tornado." offered Marine.

"Fare enough..." Tails sighed. "However, I'm forgetting something. I need to see Dr Quack again."

"Let's go young lady." said Vanilla.

The crew then returned to the hospital where Tails asked reception for an audience with Dr Quack and waited. Shade was talking to Knuckles whilst the others were just sat around.  
"Why does Vanilla need security?" She asked.

"Relax, you'll get paid." Knuckles answered.

"Who said anything about being paid?" Shade questioned.

"Fine, work for free."

Shade sighed. "I asked a question, what's so wrong about having it answered?"

"Rowdy guests on a talk show."

"I see." Shade said. "Very well."  
"Have you cooled off now Tails?" Blaze asked.  
"Not really, but I'll get over it." Tails replied. "So, Vanilla. Are you nervous about the talk show thing?"

"Yes, but at least things will be fine." Vanilla answered.

"I wonder what kind of guest it is."

"Someone has to fill in for Tikal."

"I know that, but I am curious." Tails said.

"You can always come backstage on the show."

"Are you sure that my being pregnant isn't too much for that?"

"Cream will be backstage in Tikal's Dressing room."

"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt." Tails said. "I wonder if Dr Quack is really busy."

Dr. Quack joins Tails and the company. "Did someone call me?" he asked.

"I did." Tails said, standing up, she takes Dr Quack away from the group. "Um, I was wondering about those pictures."

"Right." and Dr. Quack hands the fox an envelope. "Any specific colours I should go shopping for?"

"Huh?" Tails questioned.

"For your daughter's clothes."

"I'm sure she won't complain at her clothing colours and I'm not picky. I do have something against green or brown though." Tails replied.

"Okay. Now run along with your friends..."

Tails looks at the envelope with a smile. "Thank you." She said, then gave Dr Quack a hug and returned to the crew.

"So anyway, I'll be walking around by next Tuesday." said Rouge.

"That's good." Blaze said.

"I don't have anywhere to store these." Tails replied, showing the envelope.

"When in doubt, use your bra."

"Um, I'd rather not." She said.

"Then hold onto it."

"Okay." Tails shrugged.

"What is it anyway?" Blaze asked.

"I'll hold onto it if that's the case." offered Vanilla.

"You won't sneak a peek at them would you?" Tails asked, sticking her tongue out slightly.

Vanilla smiled. "Thanks for telling me what is in the envelope."

Tails then grinned. "I'll keep hold of it then."  
"What? What's in the envelope?" Rouge asked.  
"I want to know too." Blaze said.

"Baby pictures." Vanilla said.

"You have baby pictures and you didn't tell us?" Rouge questioned. "Show us." She said.  
"If I must, but can it wait until we get to the Ocean Tornado?" Tails asked.

"Fine, but we get to see once on the ship." said Marine.

"Deal." Tails said. And the crew left the hospital and headed back to the Ocean Tornado.

It wasn't long until they ran into Sonic, who refused to say anything about Amy and they continued back to the ship. After arriving, Amy was already here.

"Amy... good to see you." said Marine. "What happened to your hair?"

"I don't really want to talk about that..." Amy said. She saw Cream and Vanilla and bowed to them. "I'm really sorry for the way I acted before. Please forgive me." She pleaded.

"Amy, give me one good reason why I shouldn't stick my foot up your ass?" Rouge said, angrily to Amy.  
"I don't have one, and I won't make any excuses for what I did. I just want everyone to know how sorry I am..." Amy replied.

"Look, let's just keep our cool heads for now, because we have some thrilling things to endure." said Vanilla. "But first, we have to get on deck."

And everyone began to get on board the ship. Tails walked over to Amy and put her arm around her shoulders. "Come on, let's just chill out for a while."  
"Yeah...Okay..." Amy said. And everyone got on board.

After everyone got around a table and sat down, Tails took her envelope and took out the pictures from inside, giving them a flick through.  
"Everyone. Say hello to my little girl." She said as she placed the pictures on the table for them to see.

"Awwww....." Everyone was overjoyed to see the sonogram pics.  
"You were right after all, fox girl." said Rouge. "These are Lavender's first pictures..."

"Hehe." Tails giggled.  
"How adorable." Blaze said.  
"I'm so jealous." Amy said, but she was in admiration.

"What's with this one?" Marine asked as she pointed to the shot of the baby's genitals.

"I would like to take this time to brag that I was there to witness the Sonogram." Sonic bragged.  
"What about it?" Tails asked, looking at the picture.

"It looks like lips."

"That is her genital area." Tails said.

"That's your girl's girl part eh... looks swollen."

"Yeah, that's because she had an erection." Tails giggled.

"Well, let's just hope she doesn't have a you know what." joked Rouge.

"Huh?" Sonic questioned. "A what?"

"You gonna stand there, or look at this baby?" asked Rouge.

"I've seen her already." Sonic grinned. "What's a 'you know what'?"

"Orgasm Sonic, an orgasm." Rouge answered while rolling her eyes.

"Ah, I see." Sonic sweat dropped.

"Look at your face." joked Marine.

Amy walked over to Tails and pushed her fingers together.  
"Um...would...uh..." Amy stuttered.  
"What is it?" Tails asked.  
"Could I...feel...?" Amy asked.  
"Huh? Uhh...sure, but there's not much to feel." Tails said, she got out of her seat and stood with her arms by her side, but Amy was hesitant.

_Let's see how this works out._ Thought Rouge.

After about a minute and a half of Amy trying to convince herself to touch Tails belly, Tails got tired of waiting, took Amy's hand and placed it on her bloated stomach for her.  
"There, see?" Tails said. "That's not so scary is it?" Amy didn't reply, she just had a feint embarrassed blush on her face. "My baby hasn't started moving or kicking, so nothing will happen." Tails said. Amy let go of her.  
"It feels kind of weird." Amy said.

"So I guess red is the baby colour then?" asked Cream.

"Why do you say that?" Tails asked.

"Just remembering what Honey said. When she gave you those gifts, she mentioned giving you red items. So I figured red would be the baby color."

"Well, Honey gave those gifts saying they were a neutral colour, without knowing the babies gender. But at the moment, her clothes are red, yes." Tails replied.

"Red is a good colour, denotes power." said Knuckles.  
"It's also passionate." added Rouge.  
"More power than passion."  
"I say more passion than power."  
"I think you two should have a baby." said Marine.  
"Sorry, Knuckles isn't my type." said Rouge.

"Not to mention that child would be a demon spawn." Tails chuckled.

"I'll have a wonderful child, but I'm not ready for motherhood."

"Neither am I, but hey, I gotta live with it." And Tails sticks her tongue out at Rouge.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't you be taking classes for pregnancy soon?" asked Vanilla.

"Oh?" Tails asked.

"You know, classes that'll help you prepare for your daughter. I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch the name."  
"Lavender." Rouge pointed out. "Our mother here already had the baby name and it suits her daughter just fine."

"Yeah, what Rouge said." Tails added. "What do I learn in these classes?"

"You learn a lot about baby stuff."  
Everyone turned to see Honey on the ramp of the boat. "Nice to see you again. And how is the mother to be?"

"Having several mood swings, so I can't give you a straightforward answer. At the moment though, I'm in excitement mode I guess." Tails replied.  
"What brings you here, Honey?" Amy asked.  
Sonic whispered to Shade. "Just so you know, Tails is known to general public as Miley, no one else knows Tails is really a girl and pregnant." He told her.  
"Understood." Shade whispered back.

"Actually, your doctor does." Honey answered. "He wanted me to personally deliver this card to you. It pretty much has the address as to where you will go to take your Lamaze classes.

"Now to answer your question. The importance of Lamaze class is to better prepare you for child birth. You will learn a lot of things when it comes to the later end of your pregnancy, how to breathe when you're in labour, safe exercises for you and your baby to do and various pamphlet crap that you will probably throw away."

"That's the point of Lamaze classes."  
"You seem to be quite familiar with Lamaze for a model." said Vanilla. "Is there something we should know about your knowledge to Lamaze?"  
"Knowing about Lamaze classes helped me fine tune things for my Maternity line of clothing. Maternity line clothing that I gave to Tails here."

"Oh, so you wouldn't happen to be a mother and are not telling us then?" Amy grinned.

"No, I'm just always looking into stores that sell maternity wears and hearing pregnant mothers feeling uncomfortable with the baby bump dress to fit their bellies and ends up ripping." Honey shot back at Amy.

"Well, your stuff works great." Tails said. "In fact, given the option, I might wear it at all times, it's that comfortable." She scratched her head and gave a giggle.

"Well, here's the info for your Lamaze classes." and Honey gives Tails the information. "With that said, I'll take my leave. See you later, people." and off Honey went.

"Bye!" Everyone said as she left.  
"That was unexpected." Tails said. "So, what shall we do now then?"

"Something's up." said Vanilla.

"Huh?" Tails questioned. "What do you mean?"

"Did anyone notice which name was used by Honey as she spoke?" Everyone then thought for a moment.  
"She said Tails." Shade opened up.

"That's right, Honey didn't call Tails Miley."

"What difference does that make?" Amy asked.

"Plenty." Cream answered. "There's something that she knows, but isn't telling us."

"Shall I go and catch her?" Sonic asked.

"No." Vanilla answered. "Let her go... Honey's role in this may become clear in time."

"Well, alright then." Sonic said.  
"Why do I feel I'm forgetting something..." Tails questioned herself.

"Probably your prescriptions." said Marine.  
"Lunch?" asked Sonic.

"No no, not those..." Tails said. "It was during Eggman's sneak attack..."

"Are these all of your sonogram pics?" asked Cream.

"Not sure, Dr Quack took them after all, I just picked them up." Tails replied. Tails continued to think for a moment, then it came to her. "Oh! Eggman said that he sent 1000 Metal Sonics at Shadow!" She said.

"Well unless someone knows where Shadow goes, we can't really help him." said Knuckles.

"Vanilla can find him." Sonic said, looking at Vanilla.

"And how is that?" Vanilla asked.

"Well, we all know Shadow has six chaos emeralds and I happen to know you have the last one..." Sonic said.

"It isn't on me."

"The point being is you still have it." Sonic said.  
"If we're emerald hunting then it'll be easy." And Tails leaves the table and heads to her quarters. A few moments later she came back. "I knew I left her here." She said, holding Lavender's pod. She activated it and Lavender came online.  
"Mmmm, Morning already?" Lavender asked.


	14. Chapter 14

Lavender completely powered up.  
"Good day all, how may I assist today?" Lavender asked.  
"You can start by initiating your Chaos Radar." Tails said.  
"Roger Dodger." And Lavender's eyes turned green. "6 Chaos emeralds are all gathered in one place."

"Where?" Tails asked.  
"Scanning..." And Lavender continued to scan. "Located northwest of the Mystic ruins."

"What else can you scan in that location?" Tails asked.  
"A lot of metal." Lavender replied. "However, only 3 signs of mechanical activity. Indications that most of the metal detected is scrap."

"And life forms?"  
"The life form is different from typical humans or Mobians alike. Indicated as Shadow the Hedgehog." Lavender replied.  
"So he is there..." Tails said.

"Well, get going. I can't help out on this one, but a lot of you can." said Rouge. And Sonic nodded, booming off the boat and Knuckles, Shade and Blaze all followed. "Tails, come here, I want to talk to you in private."

"You're not planning on milking me again are you?" Tails asked, following Rouge into the boat. This caused the rest on the boat to fall over.

"No."

"Rouge milked you, Tails?" asked Cream.

Tails looked at Cream before fully going into the boat. "Apparently it was to stop the chest pains, but she took odd means about it, I'll tell you later." And Tails followed Rouge out of hearing range.

"What goes on when I'm not around on this boat?" asked Cream.

"Something tells me you don't want to know..." Amy sweat dropped.

Meanwhile, with Tails and Rouge.  
"What do you need to talk about?" Tails asked.

"I want your honest opinion on something." Rouge stated. "If it was me in place of you being pregnant, wouldn't you do things within your power to keep me safe from harm?"

"I would, yes." Tails replied.

"What about if it was Amy instead of you?"

"Yes."

"And if it were Cream?"

"Definitely."

"And would you defend out of love, or empathy?"

"Where are you going with this?"

"Is that a love or empathy answer?"

"That's a where are you going with this question answer." Tails gave her hair a quick brush. "And if I must answer, it'd be both. I love all of my friends and would do anything I could to help them through what I am going through."

"Then how come you can't take this mentality to heart even though it was you instead of us?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that all of this is out of love for you, not empathy."

"You make it sound like I'm ungrateful."

"But the question is 'Are you grateful' Tails?"

"Yes I am. Sure I have moments where I feel completely useless, but I am very grateful."

"What are you grateful for?"

"For the support and love." Tails replied. "Everyone has gone completely out of their way for me, why would you think I'm ungrateful for that?"

"So you aren't grateful for being a big help..."

"Huh?"

"You aren't grateful for being a big help."

"Excuse me if I'm still confused..." Tails tilted her head. "You're implying I'm a big help and am ungrateful for that?"

"Marine told me how you felt useless to everyone. And how you consider yourself as a burden that wishes to never have been exposed as a girl. If you feel useless when your friends are trying to help you, **because we love you**, then maybe we shouldn't help you anymore." Tails took that hard as she stepped away from Rouge and her ears lowered.

"Now the next time you have a 'pregnant tantrum' about being useless, just remember how much everyone has endured out of love for you. And furthermore, understand that roles change... and everyone knows that you would do the same for us if the roles were reversed. Now take a walk around the dock and think about just how grateful you really are." and Rouge left the fox to herself. Tails waited for a long while before she just collapsed to her backside and sat there.

Meanwhile, back on deck, Rouge came out alone and retook her seat. "What did you talk about?" Amy asked.

"Reality." Rouge answered. "Tails is having a hard look at herself after the wake-up call I gave her. You'll get one later, but for now... for now, we just keep the ship in good measure."

"I don't look forward to that, but I guess I deserve it." Amy said. She then went through her bag and pulled a hotel leaflet, opening it up and having a look.

"In time... but I'll wait and stew on roasting your ass."

Amy sweat dropped, but didn't reply. "Oooh, this place looks nice, shame the expenses are beyond my cash amount..."

"You looking to relocate?" asked Marine.

"I have to find a place to stay. I lost my apartment..." Amy said.

"I hope you have a tent."

"No, I destroyed it..."

"Buy a new one?"

"If I can afford it."

"Ten dollars got me one."

"Hm..." Amy thought. "Well, we will see what happens."

Tails walked onto the deck, but stayed in the doorway, watching the crew. She wasn't happy and her face showed it. She tried to get Cream's attention by waving at her.

Cream caught the signal out of the corner of her eye and approached Tails. "I take it you got scolded." she said.

"Quite..." Tails said. She took Cream by the arm and pulled her into her quarters and shut the door behind them. "Do you think I'm ungrateful?" She asked the doe.

"Define ungrateful."

"For all the help and love I've been given over the course of this pregnancy since that incident..."

"You have been stubborn on a few occasions and a little reckless, but I haven't seen you as ungrateful."

"Well, that's why I was scolded." Tails said. "I just feel useless at times, and that leads me to think I'm nothing but a burden." She walked over to her bed and took a seat. "And that's why Rouge lectured me."

"Well, I don't blame her." said Cream as she stretched. "Her love for you cost her a lot so far. You can't really blame her for putting you in your place."

"Yeah, I know..." Tails sighed. "I guess I should apologise."

"Here's the deal, Tails. Rouge had her body broken and dislocated and her club totalled from all of this. We went through hell keeping you safe and we'll do it again if need be.

"Just remember that this whole thing isn't about getting Eggman. That's just the bonus points, Tails. The whole point of this is to keep you and Lavender safe... and if That sadistic doctor would come after you at a hospital of all places, you know he'll be waiting to grab you."

"Yeah, I know..." Tails said, unknowing that tears began rolling down her cheeks. "This pregnancy makes me think weird stuff and I have been acting a lot differently to what I use to do."

"Well up until now, you have to look at yourself in a whole new light. You aren't a boy, Tails, you never were. But you were so used to being what you aren't for so long, you have to face what you really are."

"Isn't it funny?" Tails asked. "For a while I actually convinced myself I was male."

"You probably have enough money to get a sex change."

"I don't want to change my sex." Tails replied. "Even though I faked my gender my whole life, I'm happy as a girl. I've actually experienced life in both genders and I prefer the female one."

"I wish I can say that."

"Do you really want to be a boy?" Tails asked Cream. Cream didn't answer Tails. _Maybe I can have a regular relationship with Tails if I were a guy._ She thought. "Have you told Vanilla this yet?"

"What would she say? 'My little girl wants to be my little boy now?' Mother said I should think about how I want to end up."

"It's a big decision Cream." Tails said.

"I know... I'm just unsure."

"Do you love me that much? That you'd change your whole life just for me?" Tails risked asking.

Cream didn't know how to answer that. "I already have."

"There's a difference between finding out that the guy you love is a girl and changing yourself to a boy to be in a relationship with a girl that isn't considered gay." Tails said.

"So would you consider yourself in a sexual relationship with me?"

"I haven't thought about it." Tails replied.

"I guess there's a lot for us both to consider."

"Do you know what's been the hardest thing for me, Cream?" Tails asked.

"Accepting who you want to love you physically?"

"Not quite." Tails said. "I'm going to be completely honest to you about something I've never told anyone."

"You always could." and Cream sat next to Tails.

"But, I don't want anyone outside of Vanilla, you and me to know. Especially a certain pink hedgehog on deck."

"I have more competition, don't I?"

Tails giggled slightly. "You might say that."

"It isn't Charmy, right?"

Tails then burst out laughing. "Oh please."

Tails laid back on the bed, her bump stretching out her dress slightly and due to the fact Tails had creased the dress on her way down, it made her bump very apparent. "No, it's back before I knew anyone. I never was the most popular girl around and no one liked me. I was never played with, never spoke to anyone and it gradually went from there. It came to a point where I just gave up trying and stayed away. Then I became so unhappy that I simply ran away. That was the day I met Sonic." Tails explained.

"From the start I was already taken with him, just the way he was told me that no matter what I did; he had to be my friend. And for the first time I can remember, I was brave enough to start conversation with someone. Since the other kids didn't like me for being a girl, I told Sonic I was a boy. Shortly after, I became his 'little buddy' and that's how I began my life with Sonic. I was his best friend, and then later his brother. Then we met everyone else. I'd already loved Sonic beyond anything by that time, and I became so mad every time Amy would chase him away. Slowly I remembered though, that I had lied to Sonic and that my love was pointless. I convinced myself I was happy just being his little bro. So that's how I lived my life. I went to Dr. Quack, the only one other than my parents to know my true gender and created synthetic genitals." Tails sat up and whispered to Cream. "I actually used Sonic as an example whilst he was sleeping, hush-hush though." She then giggled.

"Good example, but Sonic is bigger than you." Cream giggled.

"Well of course, so I had to reshape to compensate without suspicion." Tails said. "But, my genitals would have been a slightly smaller exact replica of Sonics'. And yes, that was the 'closest' to Sonic I'd ever been, and to tell the truth, I only thought two things at the time. How much I loved being so close and just how jealous Amy would be."

"You definitely pissed Amy off."

"Huh?"

"Anything else I should know?"

Tails rubbed her belly absentmindedly. "Eventually, Amy introduced you to me and I saw the same look in you that I felt when I first met Sonic. And this began the hardest experience for me. Knowing that I was lying to you, and as much as I wanted to tell you the truth, I didn't want to risk my secret being broken to everyone and I was scared that if Sonic knew the truth, he'd have left me like a sack of mouldy sardines and I didn't want that. And then life continued. Eventually, I began to forget my real feelings for Sonic and developed more for other people. You and Marine as good examples and it was only when Eggman violated me and I became a female so suddenly that I realised how badly I was fooling myself. And the past few weeks living with Sonic, those old feelings I buried away began to spark again."

"Sonic will always feel for you."

"As his little sister yes. But it won't go anywhere. I had the worst morning this morning..."

"You had a worst day so far."

"No, I've had worst days than this one, but the morning was a nightmare. First was that stupid 'news hoax' that upset me, then Dr Quack came in and my morning brightened with the sonogram. But then it got worse. Dr Quack and Sonic mocked me." Tails said and pouted slightly.

"What did they say?"

"Well as of recent I've been having odd dreams." Tails explained. "At the start of my pregnancy, I had nightmares about the many outcomes of my pregnancy and other disturbing ones involving Egghead. Recently, I've been having sex dreams involving Sonic and....um.....Shadow...." Tails blushed a little and rubbed her cheek with her index finger.

"That doesn't tell me how Sonic and Dr. Quack mocked you."

"Well, I asked about them. I wondered if it was a common pregnancy thing to have sex dreams. I was mocked because they thought I was asking if I could have pregnant sex, or as Dr Quack said. 'After I use the forceps and check you've healed, I'll give Sonic a rubber and he can bless your insides.' Or something like that. And it was embarrassing..."

"So cracks were made about Sonic having sex with you and you were dreaming about Sonic having sex with you..."

"Well, I didn't specify who was in the dreams and it embarrassed me."

"Not the point. You had dreams of doing it with Sonic, but when it's brought up for comic relief, you get mad instead of crack about how Amy would have Sonics' balls?" Tails didn't know quite how to reply to that. "Any of those dreams involve me?" Cream asked just for the hell of it.

"A few." Tails shuddered at the memory of one. "One was a little nightmare though..."

"Oh, I see..." that mad Cream feel a bit bummed out.

"Oh, don't take that the wrong way Cream, it was lovely to begin with and quite sweet, until you pulled a knife on me and I woke up in a cold sweat and milky chest..." Tails lowered her ears.

"I... I...." and Cream left the room in tears.

"Oh, crap..." Tails face palmed. "I should have kept my mouth shut..." She stood and walked to her door, closing it and locking it. _I shall remain alone for a while..._ She thought, before she walked over to the bed, stripped off and got under her blankets.

Meanwhile, Amy had heard Cream crying and went to investigate, finding her inside the ship. "Cream, are you okay? What happened?" She asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Cream said through her tears. "I just wanna go home... I wanna go home!"

"Hey, there, there." Amy said, giving her best friend a hug. She pat her on the head. "Let's get you to Vanilla, okay?"

Vanilla appears on the deck. "What's going on here?" she asked.  
"Momma, I wanna go home." Cream answered through her tears.

"I didn't do anything, I found her like this." Amy said, making sure she wasn't blamed.

"I think this one is from something else." said Vanilla. "Come on, let's go home."  
"Yes Mother." and Vanilla went to take her crying daughter home.  
Marine shook her head. "Crikey, looks like the high flyers fell out again." she said.

Amy was angry. "Tails probably upset her." She said.

"Tails goes through a lot and Cream goes through a lot over Tails."

It was at this time more voices were heard, but feint.  
"I said let me go, Blue Hedgehog!"  
"You're hurt, you need assistance, so stop being so stubborn."  
"Arrrr!" Boom! Sonic landed on deck, but was okay.  
"Shadow really needs to sort out that temper of his..." He said, before leaping up. This time it was Knuckles trying to help Shadow, who looked as if he could barely stand on two feet.

"You guys look like you've enjoyed the party." said Rouge.

"Shut up!" Shadow roared.  
"His prides a little hurt." Shade said walking up onto the boat.

"Looks like his whole body is hurt." said Marine.

"And we actually missed all the action." Sonic said.

"That's our Shadow, self-reliant as always." said Rouge.

"I don't need help from anyone, least of all Sonic!" Shadow retorted.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be checking with that anger management. Vanilla won't be happy knowing you're blowing your top." Sonic scolded Shadow.  
"Oh stuff her silly little games, I'll fry her and take that chaos emerald." Shadow countered.  
"In your state? I don't think so. I'll ignore that comment due to your injured state, but don't let Vanilla catch you saying such words. She can be merciless if she wants to be, especially when there are arrogant pricks like you involved." Sonic said, cleaning his ear slightly.  
"Grrrr..." Shadow growled. "Fine, fine. Whatever, I want to sit over there." And Shadow pointed, he was led to a part of the boat and sat down.

"So what's next for us now?" asked Rouge.

"Well, I'm going to grab myse-...Hey, where is Vanilla and Cream anyway? Weren't they here before we left?" Sonic asked.

"Vanilla took Cream home." Rouge answered.  
"You can catch them in a few seconds... if you wanted to." said Marine.

"Nah, I'll leave them be, I don't need them for any reason." Sonic replied. "Where's Tails?"

"In the back." Rouge answered. "And I think we all need to have a discussion about our fox."

"Hm? About what?"

"Next week, let's leave Tails to herself. Give her space from all of us so she can breathe."

"Are you nuts? We can't do that? What if Eggman shows up?" Sonic asked.

"After the stunt he pulled at the hospital that was stopped by Shade? I doubt it. This is what I propose. We leave Tails to her solitude, but observe her from a distance. Unless Eggman decides to rear his ugly head, we'll let the fox noodle noggin out of situations."

"So basically just let her fend for herself." Sonic questioned. "Are you suggesting totally ignoring her?"

"We aren't ignoring her, just giving the fox personal space. Tails may be expecting, but she feels smothered with all of us taking her in and shielding her from the world."

"So what if she calls us for typical stuff, like wanting to hang out?" asked Marine.  
"Tell her that we have plans." and Rouge spread her wings. "Despite the disdain you may all seem to have, Tails needs time alone with herself and her belly."

"That seems kind of mean..." Amy said.

"No, we'll let her come to us. And besides, most of her time is spent on her own anyway. This way, she can have a grasp of solitude without having any of us to smother her." Rouge pointed out. "We'll resume things like normal, but watch her from a distance. And after the period, we can pass her on like always."

Shade looked toward the quarters. "Hmm...Did anyone else hear a door close?"

"I did, but I thought it was a window." Marine answered.

Shadow laughed a little. "Do you think Tails was just standing there listening to how you're about to avoid her?"

"If she heard, then it'll make her stronger. Besides, she's the one that wants to feel like she can do things on her own. And look at it this way, Tails will be able to think without one of us locking her up like a gold medal in a trophy case."

"Okay, what about if all us girls arrange to go out and Tails asks to come, what then?" Amy asked.

"She's pregnant... and what do women do for their pregnant friends before delivery..."

"A baby shower?"

"Very good, you just answered your own question. Besides, we already know to get red stuff for Tails' daughter anyway."

"Using her pregnancy as an excuse seems low to me." Amy said. "Say we were actually going to see a movie."

"What excuse? You mean to tell me that you don't want to throw Tails a baby shower?"

"Not what I said. I mean what if the plan we were doing involved going to see a movie and Tails asked to come. We can't just say 'no because we're picking up presents.' Can we?" Amy asked.

"We can say we're going to do other stuff not safe for little guys." Marine answered.  
"That would blow your cover." Rouge corrected. "We'll just use the Chimera card."

"So, Rouge. What did you and Tails fall out about?" Shadow laughed.

"Tails fell out with Cream, not me." Rouge answered and cracked her knuckles.

"Then why are you so determined to avoid her?"

"This isn't about avoiding Tails, Shadow. I'm not sure if any of you thought of this, but Tails feels that she needs to able to do the things she could do before all of this happened. Don't you think she deserves that chance?"

"Giving her space yes, but forcing space is another issue, Rouge. You'll make up excuses to make sure she get's the solitude **you** want her to have, even if she asked to hang out. Sounds like avoidance to me." Shadow retorted.

"Coming to her rescue again, eh Shadow? Sounds like you're admitting your feelings for the fox."

"I agree with Shadow on this one, Rouge. Sure, we can give Tails more space to breathe, but I'm not going to lie to her and say I'm busy if I'm not if she asked me to hang out." Sonic said.

"Fine, do what you want. But the next Time Tails feels useless and all cooped up, don't say I told you so." and Rouge crutched her way off of the Ocean Tornado. "I'm gonna go check on my club and Omega. Catch you guys later... And make sure you get to Vanilla so she can cover for Tikal's show tonight."

"I will do that." Knuckles said. "But guys, I'm going to agree with Rouge."  
"Only because you want to fuck her." Shadow countered.

"Like you don't wanna get into Tails' panties, Shadow." Knuckles shot back.

Shadow growled. "That'll do. Try not to abuse the girls too much." Sonic told them.

"He started it." said Knuckles.

"I'm finishing it. I want to know what the hell has happened between Rouge, Tails and Cream..." Sonic countered.

"I dunno." Marine answered. "Rouge pulled Tails in the back for a talk, then Rouge came out. Afterwards, Cream went to talk to Tails. Then Cream comes out crying about how she wants to go home. Personally, I'll have to test my luck and try to have my fun with that MILF."

"Seriously." Shadow said. "Stop talking about fucking Tails, you're beginning to sound as bad as Amy when it comes to Sonic."

"Yeah, Amy has a lot of broken bridges to fix." said Blaze.  
"I guess we should go and see Tikal." said Marine.

"We could do that." Sonic said.

Tails came out of her room, she hadn't gotten dressed, and so she was as she used to be in the old days.

"So, what happened between you and Rouge and Cream?" asked Marine.

"I don't want to talk about it..." Tails said.

"This doesn't have to do with our rump before Shade showed up, did it?"

"Yes." Tails replied.

"Oh. Well, forgive me on that one. You'll tell your mind when you're ready. If anyone needs me, I'll be in my quarters." and Marine walked off deck.

"Okay, so who do I upset next?" Tails asked.  
"That'll do, Tails." Sonic said, patting Tails on the head.

"Anyway, you go and see Tikal. I'll be locked in my room." Tails walked back into the ship and Sonic turned to Knuckles and Shadow. Tails went and followed Marine to her quarters and knocked on the door.

"Doors open." was Marine's response.

Tails walks into the room. "It's just me." She said.

"Come on in, luv."

Tails closes the door behind her. "How are things at the moment?" She asked, making small talk.

"You tell me, I don't have the problems."

"Well, despite the fact Rouge wants to avoid me and I sent Cream home crying, that and I'm having a craving for steak and cheese. I'm just dandy..." Tails replied.

"Rouge doesn't want to avoid you, she wants you to understand how blessed you are."

"Well, right now I just want to see someone who I can talk to." Tails said.

"Well, I guess Dr. Quack is one person."

"Actually not who I was thinking."

"Oh..."

"If we could get the boys off the ship, me and you can go." Tails said.

"Blaze will probably want to go, you know."

"Hm, Blaze can come, I guess someone should." Tails said.

"By the way, I still haven't given up on you." Marine stuck out her tongue. "Girl or boy, pregnant or not, I still want some from you."

"Um...Fare enough..." Tails sweat dropped.

"Well, lemme know when you're ready to shovel off."

Tails smiled. "Thanks, Marine."

"No problem."

Tails left Marine's quarters and headed towards her own. However, she was stopped by Sonic. "Hey Tails. We're going to go and see Tikal, do you want to come?" He asked.  
"No thanks." Tails replied. "I want to sleep a little."  
"But it's the middle of the day."  
"Pregnant, Sonic. I run out of energy easy." Tails said, making an excuse.  
"Oh okay. Well, Blaze said she'll still be here and i think Shadow is going to head back on to Rouge's place. I'm not sure. See you in a little while." And Sonic pat Tails on the head and left. Tails walked into her room. _Wow, that seemed convenient..._

10 minutes later, the only ones left on the ship were Blaze, Marine and Tails. Tails had gotten changed and left the room. She went and looked for Marine, knocking on her quarters.

Marine came to the door. "Feeling better?" she asked.

"A bit, but I'm ready to go now." Tails replied.

"I see. Well, let's raise anchor and set sail."

"And where are we going?" Blaze asked, walking in.

"Tails wants to go somewhere." Marine said.

"Knothole. I want to see Aunt Sally and Bunny." Tails told them.

"Knot Hole Eh? Well, it would be nice to venture a bit. Help out with the ramp, Blaze."

"And you're not planning to tell anyone where you're going?" Blaze asked.  
"It's not like Eggman knows where Knothole is." Tails said. Blaze shrugged and went to help move the ship.

After 5 minutes, the ship had been started and left the dock, Marine at the wheel. Blaze and Tails were with her though.  
"It's been a long time since I saw Sally and Bunny." Tails said.

"I get to meet your aunts." said Marine.

"Well, they're not really my aunts, but I think of them as such." Tails said.

"I'll be in my room. Shout if you need something." Blaze said, before leaving the two.

"If the wind continues to grace us, we should arrive in Knot Hole before sunset." said Marine.

"Sally's in for a shock...several shocks..." Tails said.

"Well, let's hope that she doesn't have the same reaction that Cream and Blaze did when they found out about you." and Marine giggled.

"Knowing Bunny, she'll give me a hug with her normal arm and tell me everything'll be fine, but chances are Sally is going to freak." Tails explained.

"Normal arm?"

"It's a long story. Back a few years, we were faced with something called the robotocizor. It turns biological creatures into robots. Let's say Bunny nearly fell totally victim to it before Sonic rescued her."

"I see... Well then, I guess that makes sense."

"One of her arms and both of her legs are mechanical."

"I see." and without warning, Marine fires off the EMP.

"What are you doing?" Tails asked.

"That was just the EMP, luv. Nothing to worry about." Marine answered.

"What was the point?"

"Standard procedure. Some arse decided to slap a bug on the boat to listen in on how Blaze and I have the security over the sceptre and the sol emeralds. EMPs short out electrical equipment as you know, and I fire it off so no one's bug can track us."

"I hope you haven't damaged Lavender..." Tails said.

"Oops."

"It doesn't matter, I can fix her." Tails said.

"No biggy. There's a secret to the EMP I've used so far."

"Is that so?"

"Yup. Have you heard of a magnova grenade?"

"Off of the top of my head, no."

"Magnova grenades are different from your standard frag grenades. When a frag grenade blows up, it goes boom, magnova grenades go boom, the release electric charges."

"You mean like a chaff grenade?"

"Somewhat."

"Fare enough."

*

Vanilla opened the door to her house and led Cream inside, who was still crying. After getting inside, Vanilla closed the door.  
"Go and sit down sweetie and I'll get you a drink, okay?" Vanilla told her daughter.

"Yes, Mother." Cream said through her tears and sat on the couch.

"Would you like OJ or a milkshake?"

"OJ please."

Vanilla walked into the kitchen and took a glass from the cupboard and a bottle of OJ from another. After making Cream a fresh glass with water, she went back into the living room and handed Cream the drink.

Cream sips the drink slowly, but her tears continue to flow. "This isn't helping."

"Well, talk to me. What's gotten you so upset?" Vanilla asked.

"I... I.... I did something very horrible."

"What did you do?"

"It was.... was....." and Cream just burst into tears.

Vanilla pulled her daughter into a hug. "Shhh, shhh... There, there sweetie." She said, rocking her daughter. "Tell me when you're ready to, okay?"

Cream just cried as she placed her juice on the coffee table. The glass didn't make it to the coaster... _It's not fair... it's not fair... why would I do something like that to Tails?!_ She mentally yelled at herself. Vanilla continued to rock her daughter, waiting for her to calm down.

"Are you okay now?" She asked softly.

"No."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Keep me away from sharp objects...."

"None of those thoughts please, dear." Vanilla said. "Please tell me what happened." Cream didn't answer, she just cried.

Vanilla mentally sighed and rubbed her daughter's shoulder. _This is going to be a long afternoon..._ She thought.

_I'll probably never forgive myself now..._ Cream thought.

After another 15 minutes of crying, Vanilla was still soothing Cream, waiting for her to either calm down or talk about it. After it seemed like her tear ducts were empty, Cream stopped crying. "I'm gonna need the vibe." she said.

"Are you going to tell me what happened, dear?" Vanilla asked.

"I just want the vibe."

"Are you sure that'll help?"

"Yes, it'll help."

Vanilla then stands and does as Cream requests and fetches the vibe. She returns and sits next to Cream. "Will you tell me once you've finished venting?" She asked her.

"On second thought, the vibe won't help me." said Cream. "I stabbed Tails while she was pregnant."

"What? When?" Vanilla asked, shocked at what Cream said.

"She's fine, it didn't actually happen. It was a nightmare she had."

"Oh sweetie..." Vanilla said. "That's what has you so upset?"

"Yes..."

"But it was just a dream, you don't have to feel guilty for that. We all have dreams that don't make sense, and some things happen that you'd never expect." Vanilla explained. "You feel guilty because you hurt Tails in her dreams when neither you nor she had control over them?"

"I can't understand that...."

"What's not to understand? She had a bad dream. That wasn't your fault and neither was it hers. It was a harmless dream."

"I don't know, but it makes things harder for me to find closure with all this."

"Cream, what happened in dreams are beyond our control. Everyone knows you would never do such a thing." Vanilla said. "But why does it make things harder?"

"Tension."

"What tension?"

Cream sighed. "Couples tension." Cream finally drank some of her juice, and then placed the drink on a coaster. "I'm going through way too much... I'm probably mad as a March hare right about now."

"I doubt that dear." Vanilla said. "I have a question, have you ever had any odd dreams about Tails? In a similar fashion as the one she had but switching the roles?"

"I never dreamt of Tails stabbing me while pregnant."

"No, but have you ever had a dream where either Tails or someone else you love ever done anything violent to you in your dreams?

"No, not really."

"I guess it's a bad example. Well, let's think of it this way. It's not unheard of for people to have nightmares about those they love and care for. Some people have common dreams, due to the subconscious. Let's take Tails as an example, most of her life she kept her gender a secret from us and must have at times feared everyone's reactions as a result. The subconscious has a way of playing tricks on people so despite the fact she has now opened up to everyone about being female and also pregnant, and everyone has accepted that at least to her face, her subconscious still plays her dreams of alternate realities to the one that really happened. In this case, you stabbed her. But, don't think of this as Tails fearing that you would or such, but it's just what the subconscious does to play a trick. Do you understand?" Vanilla explained. "You must also understand that this might be a cause of her pregnancy. Pregnancy affects mothers differently, but have you thought to yourself that perhaps you're not the only one that Tails has dreamt doing something violent to her?"

"Besides Eggman, probably Shadow."

"I happen to believe that she has at some point had dreams about Marine, Knuckles and even Sonic doing something bad to her. If her subconscious is bad enough to make someone as sweet and innocent as you hurt Tails, then it can make Sonic, the first person to know Tails and be best friends, to also do something nasty. But you must remember that it's all just a dream. It doesn't mean anything because they are not real." Vanilla replied.

"O-kay."

"Am I frustrating you?"

"Just trying to cope, Mom." and Cream stands up. Maybe I just need to relax. All of this happening to Tails is stressing me out. I don't wanna go blind from it... Could you run me a bubble bath; I don't think I'll be able to myself?"

"Of course." Vanilla said, standing as well. "Are you still going to come with me when I go to air Tikal's show? Or shall I call a babysitter?"

"I might as well go. Besides, it'll keep me from sharp objects."

"Now enough of that. I also want you to leave the bathroom door unlocked." Vanilla said. "And I think it would be a good idea if you stay away from Tails for a little while."

"I need a relaxer...."

"No seeing Tails. If she calls for you, I can make an alibi for you. But I want you to cool your head okay? This talk of sharp objects has me worried and until you stop making me worry about that, I don't want you seeing Tails, okay?"

"Yes, Mother."

"Good, now watch some television or something whilst I run your bath, okay?" And Vanilla walks off towards the bathroom. _I feel mean for doing it, but this is all too much for Cream right now, what with all that's happened. If keeping her away from Tails will stop these thoughts that I presume are about hurting herself or suicide, I will have to do it. _Vanilla reached the bathroom and put the plug in the bath and began to run it. _Maybe I should ask Dr Quack about it. I'll be there to console Tails if she needs me to, but Cream comes first._

Suddenly, three raps come to the door and Cream goes to answer it. As she opens the door, that stand Knuckles and Shade. "Hey, get your mom. We have to leave for the studio." Knuckles said.  
Cream nods. "Mom, Knuckles is here!" she calls.

_Already?_ Vanilla questioned mentally. She leaves the bathroom after stopping the taps. "I was just running Cream a bath, can it wait a little while?" she asked.

"The show starts in a bit." Knuckles explained. "Was Cream coming with us?"

"She was, yes. I guess her bath shall have to wait until we get back." Vanilla said, looking at Cream. "Is that okay dear?" She asked.  
"Actually, Knuckles showed me where the studio is, so I can keep watch on her if you want and then bring her over." Shade blurted.

"I can have a bath at anytime." Cream answered

"Okay, we will all go now then." Vanilla said, she returned to the bathroom and pulled the plug, letting what little water that was in the tub go down the drain. She returned to the living room and picked up her purse and keys. "Let's go." She said.

"I already filled in the people, so you're clear to play talk show host." said Knuckles.

"Okay." Vanilla said, and the 4 left the house, Vanilla locked up and they walked on towards the studio.

*

Meanwhile, the Ocean Tornado had found its way to Knothole's harbour and docked. After clearance and other official business, Tails and Marine left Blaze with ship and left for Knotholes main city. They reached the main plaza easily enough and Tails headed in the direction of the castle, but as she walked she turned off in another direction, but she was soon a little lost.

"I can't remember this place too well..." She said to herself.

"We don't have to B-line for the castle, luv." said Marine.

"I wasn't, if I was, I wouldn't have stopped..." Tails replied.

"I see. And how are your hootz holding up?"

"Please, let's not talk about that." Tails said.

"Well, show me around this place."

"Well, I guess I'll see if my hut is still around." Tails said, walking in a completely different direction to where she was previously going.

"Takin' a girl to your old place... aren't you a sly fox." Marine teased.

"Yeah, we can make out whilst we're there..." Tails teased.

"Good, sex before I meet your aunt sounds pretty ace about now."

"I said make out, I have no plans on sex." Tails replied.

"Fine, make out first, then sex after meeting your aunt."

Tails stopped and turned to Marine. "You know, I know you want something from me, Marine. But do you mind if it waits a little while? I'm not really emotionally stable enough for any kind of romantic contact..." She asked.

"So you can 'fish' for Cream and let Rouge milk you, but I don't get any action?"

"I never said that Marine." Tails said. "I was just verbally pounded into the ground by Rouge and I sent Cream home crying. Right now I am at an all time low, can't you understand that?"

"Sorry for getting carried away." Marine sweat dropped. "You know I love you too much..."

"You can never love someone too much, trust me, I know. But right now, all I want to do is break down and I'm trying my best not to. If I come to Bunny and Sally crying then this will be a lot worse than I want it to be..."

"Point taken." Tails nodded and continued on toward the location she believed to be her hut with Marine following.

After a 15 minute walk, the hut came into view.  
"It's still here." Tails smiled. "I wonder if it's taken by other people though."

Tails walked over to the hut and went to open it, finding it was unlocked. "Odd..." She said. "Hello?" She asked, opening the door. "Anyone in here?"

"Ah'm sorry. But y'all have got the wrong house, this one ain't fer sale." Said a familiar voice form upstairs as Bunnie Rabbot walked down and saw the duo. However, she lifted an eyebrow, confused at what she was seeing.  
"Hey, Aunt Bunnie." Tails said with a smile. However, Bunnie wasn't entirely convinced at this point. She came down the stairs and walked over to the two and gave Tails a once over, it was when she noticed her famous twin tails that it snapped.  
"Tails?" She asked. "What in tarnation happened to you, you're so....different?" Tails tried to keep the smile on her face, but she knew inside she was about to break down and was unable to stop it. She dove into Bunny and wrapped her arms around her and burst into tears, surprising the half-metallic rabbit. However, Bunny just wrapped her arms around Tails and pats her on the back. "There, there, sugah, just let it all out." _What in tarnation..? If ah didn't know better...I wouldn't even think this here fox were Tails..._ She thought.

"You know, if this is what you meant by one of your aunts, she sure looks interesting to say the least, Tails." said Marine. "And it seems your old place has dibbs up for grabs."

"Who're you, sugah?" Bunnie asked Marine as Tails continued her breakdown.

"I'm Marine." the raccoon introduced herself proudly. "And aside from eating well, Tails has been feeling a bit down, so I figured that I would be good to her and bring her here for a bit."

"Well, Ah'm here for yer now, hun." Bunnie said, stroking Tails head. _Ah don't know if ah heard wrong, but did that girl just refer to Tails as 'her'?_ She thought.

"You'll have to excuse me for soundin' weird, it's been a long boat ride and my accent confuses many people."

"Y'all ain't the only one on that boat, sugah." Bunnie replied.

"So, you're Tails' aunt Bunnie? I was filled in on the robotic diggs on the way."

"It's good ta know we're all remembered here." Bunnie said. "Have y'all calmed down now, Sugah?" Bunnie asked Tails, who was just about relaxed, with a few hiccups. "Come, let's get you a seat. Y'all came here to see Sally, right?"  
"Well, I *hic* actually came to se-*hic*-see you too, Bunnie." Tails said through tears.

"So, what's gotten y'all so unhappy, hm?" Bunnie asked.  
"A build up of reality alongside hurting one of my best friend's feelings..." Tails wiped her face. "I know I shouldn't have run away from my problems, but I wanted to talk to you and Aunt Sally because you guys know how to talk to me about matters differently to everyone else." Marine wanted to add in, but said nothing. "Things have been really hard on me lately and it's driving me to the point where ending it all seems the easiest to do..." Tails cried.  
"Now there, hun. Y'all can't be havin' thoughts like that. The easiest path isn't necessarily the right one to go." Bunnie said. "Let's go and find Sally and we can have a big talk, okay?"  
"Y-yeah, okay..." Tails sniffled.

_Perhaps this Sally will teach me how to do that Funny Kiss Cream taunts me about._ Thought Marine.

As Tails stood, Bunnie really only just began to study her attire and also noticing things she somehow missed. _Okay, ah'm completely confused now..._ "Sugah Tails, why are y'all in a dress?"  
"Long story short, I'm a girl." This had Bunnie sweat-dropping.  
"Was it some kinda horrible lab accident?"  
"No, I was born that way..." Tails replied. "And to add to the kick of shock, I'm also very pregnant." This had Bunnie lifting her hand to her mouth in a gasp.  
"How did this...who's...Y'all are gonna have to explain this, cause ya lost me at the pregnant part..."  
"There's no father..." Tails lowered her ears. "I'll explain when we see Sally; I don't want to have to explain it twice. It hurts too much."  
"Sure, let's go and find her." It was clear Bunnie wasn't taking this well, but was trying to keep as cool as she could.

"Bunnie, I think we should go see Sally now... For Tails' sake." suggested Marine.

Bunnie nodded and escorted Tails out of the hut, after Marine left as well, Bunnie locked up and the three began walking toward the castle. "Oh, so y'all know what ah was doin' in yer hut. We've made sure ta keep it neat and tidy, encase y'all wanted ta come and stay. It's not up for sale. I was just givin' it a good ol' dustin'." Bunnie explained. Tails simply nodded in response.

"Good." said Marine. "Old happy memories will help Tails out."

"So, Marine, was it? How did y'all meet Tails?"

"I find her and Sonic washed up on the beach. Then we had an adventure on the seas with pirates, treasure and kicking in Egghead's teeth."

"Sounds like a typical Sugah-hog day." Bunnie replied.

"Sugah-hog?" Marine was confused.

"That's Sonic, Bunnie calls him Sugah-hog sometimes." Tails informed Marine.

"Oh...."

"Sorry for the confusion." Bunnie said.

"Everyone has nicknames."

"Just like you, Captain." Tails teased.

"Hey, ranks are different than nicknames."

"Hm, so you're nickname would be brat by Blaze's point of view." Tails said. "My name Tails is just a nickname as well."

"I know that, I also know how much you hate your real first name."

"Did you know that 'Sonic' is also just a nickname?"

"Is this like asking, 'Are we there yet' to pass the time until we get to this castle?"

"No, I just know that Sonic hates his real name more than I hate mine." Tails giggled.

"And how are your hootz holdin' up?"

"Lactating..." Tails lowered her ears. Bunnie sweat-dropped.  
"Y'all know, ah still ain't used to the idea y'all are really a gal, Tails. And havin' a baby to boot is a lot to take." Bunnie told her.

"Thanks for telling me, Tails. But I meant you, Bunnie." said Marine. "You aren't even wearing a bra..."

"Ma 'hootz' are fine, but thanks fer noticing." Bunnie said to the raccoon.

"I mean crikey, you're bigger than Rouge. What are you, a j-cup?"

"Not quite, hun." Bunnie said.

"By the way, we're gonna have to make a pit stop, Tails need to get her hootz under control since the shirt has wet spots."

"Oh...shit..." Tails cursed.  
"Looks like we'll be hitting' ma place then." Bunnie sweat dropped.

"I still say we should inject chocolate syrup into your hootz, Tails." said Marine. Bunnie fell over.  
"No, no, no, no, no." Tails told the raccoon.

After going to Bunnies to sort out Tails, the three went to the Castle and reached the doors.  
"Y'all ready?" Bunnie asked.  
"Yeah..." Tails replied.

The three then enter the castle and walk around, Marine checking out its magnificent walls. The three entered the throne room, where Sally was sorting through some papers.  
"I thought the current king was Sally's brother, why is Sally doing his job?" Tails asked.  
"He's gone out to another kingdom for somethin', ah've not really asked, so Sally's fillin' in temporarily." Bunnie explained. The three had gotten to Sally without her noticing, since she was so caught up in her work. "Um, Sally-girl, y'all got a visitor." Bunnie said.

"Whom, exactly?" Sally asked, still sorting through her papers.

"Our favourite two-tailed fox."

Sally stopped shuffling through the papers and saw Tails and Marine. "Tails, it really is you." she said with a smile.

"Yup." Tails smiled.

"So, how was the fashion show?"

"You saw that?" Tails asked.

"No, read about it in the paper, and your pregnant ass made front page. So are you having a boy, girl, or hermaphrodite?"

"Girl." Tails replied.  
"How did ah miss that paper?" Bunnie asked.

"Threw it away by accident?" asked Marine.  
"Antoine tossed his because he thought it was a hoax." said Sally.

"Oh, he's gonna get it when ah see him next..." Bunny fumed.

"Um...could I possibly...get a hug?" Tails asked Sally.

"You said that you grew out of hugs... but I guess I can hug that baby girl of yours." Sally answered and left her table.

"I said that when I thought I was a 'big boy'. But I realise now that I'm just as bad as I used to be..." Tails lowered her ears.

Sally hugged Tails, but it was a short one. "So, are you going to introduce me to your girl friend here?"

Tails was kind of bummed that her hug was so short. "Sally this is Marine, Marine, this is my Aunt Sally." Tails introduced the two.

"Nice to meet you, highness." said Marine.  
"Likewise." said Sally and she shook with Marine. After that, she wrapped her arm around Tails' shoulder. "As for you, young lady, I have a gift you can take home."

"Oh?" Tails questioned.

"Yes. I might as well give you something besides a talk since you came out this way."

"I should probably explain how I got into the mess I'm currently in soon, huh?" Tails said.

"True, you should." said Sally. "But not here, we have to go to a scene more welcoming. Let's go to my study everyone. It's more relaxing there and it's also where I put your gift." And the four head off to Sally's study.

"Have a seat everyone and let's have tea." said Sally.

"Typical that y'all would keep this place nice and clean, Sally-girl." Bunny said.  
"Oddly, it doesn't look any different than that last time I saw it...and that was ages ago..." Tails added. The two take a seat, Bunny on Tails' left side.

"I may not be on the throne, but I am still a princess." said Sally.

"Even a princess can be messy once in a while." Tails teased.

"While we wait for the water to heat up, tell us about your daughter's conception."

"How to begin, I wonder..." Tails thought to herself for a moment.

"You can begin by telling me if this is a happy or sad story." Sally guessed.

"That depends." Tails said. "It's a sad conception, but I don't feel sad about my baby anymore."

"Tell me as much as you can without opening closed wounds."

"Y'all can take yer time if it gets too hard." Bunnie said.  
"I'm afraid that's impossible..." Tails said to Sally. "This baby has no father, the conception wasn't normal."

Sally's expression turned shrewd. "Sounds like you were drugged." she said.

"No, I was electrocuted, and then raped by a machine." Tails lowered her ears. Bunnie gasped.

"Enough said." was Sally's reply. "So, what have you learned throughout your pregnancy?"

"That lactating really sucks and my breasts go through hell." Tails replied.

"That just means you'll breastfeed." Tails looked at Marine momentarily and then back to Sally.  
"Probably..." She said.

"No, you'll breastfeed."

"Okay." Tails replied. "Um, are you sure you don't want me to tell you the full story?"

"If it'll keep you from wanting to kill yourself, then go ahead. If not, then don't."

"This is Eggman's doing. He was the one who captured me, found out my gender and then used me for a sick experiment called Chimera. I got pregnant as a result." Tails said.

"Nice way to sum it up." said Sally. "And I take it your capture was a result of being brave?"

"Yes." Tails lowered her ears again.

"Who did you rescue? And why are you sad for rescuing that person?"

"I rescued Cream. And I'm not sad about saving her, I'm sad because I was incapable of escaping myself, which led me to the problems I'm having now..."

"Then don't be sad about it."

Tails just suddenly covered her face with her hands and burst into tears, leading Bunny to wrap her non-metallic arm around her shoulder. "Everything is just going so horribly wrong for me lately, and I just want it to stop. I just want everything back to normal and it's never going to be back to normal." Tails cried.

"Before this goes any further Aunt Sal, I better note that Tails and Cream are going through some rough waters right now." Marine pointed out.  
"Oh, I didn't get to hear that part yet. Sorry about me jumping the gun." and Sally slaps her forehead.

"I can't take it anymore, just make it go away, make the pain go away and leave me alone." Tails cried. Bunnie then rubbed her shoulder, and rocked her gently.  
"There, there, sugah, let it all out, don't hold nothin' back." Bunnie said to her, leading to Tails falling into Bunnies chest to cry. Bunnie pat her on the head. "Time heals all wounds."

The teapot whistled and Sally placed it on the tray. "Tea should help things pass." she said, then placed two teabags into the pot.

"So, what are ya gonna call ya lil' gal?" Bunnie asked, as Tails began to calm a little.  
"Lavender..." Tails said. "I designed a computer AI which was supposed to resemble my own daughter, but the colour scheme messed up and she was a lavender colour, so that's where the name came from."

"Lavender is a nice name." said Sally as she dipped the teabags. "Well, let's have some lemon tea."

"Y'all feel better now that ya had a good cry?" Bunnie asked Tails. Tails then sat up right and wiped her face.  
"I think I'm okay now." She said.

"I'll have a spot of tea please." requested Marine.

"I don't quite know what Sally does to it, but whatever it is makes it heaven in a cup." Tails said. "I'll have some."  
"Good ol' tea." Bunnie said.

The teapot is passed around and the four girls enjoy the pot. "I guess I really needed a break from paperwork." said Sally.

"Even though you turned down the crown, you still work too much." Tails said, sipping her tea.

"Once a princess... princess until death or marriage."

"You still work too much."

"Don't you work too much." and Sally sipped her tea. "By the way, how are you enjoying the tea, Tails?"

"Heaven in a cup." Tails replied.

"Good. Now for your gift..." and Sally reached behind her chair. "This is a nice bag of nursing tea."

"Nursing tea?"

"Yes, it'll help you out when it's time for those 'meals of milk' that you have to give. The tea helps with your milk production, flow and even takes away some of the problems nursing babies have while latching. Actually, we're drinking it right now." and Sally stuck out her tongue.

"Ah knew somethin' was odd about this tea." Bunnie said.

"I only ask one favour from you, Tails." said Sally.

"What's that?" Tails asked.

"Nothing simple... just a cake..."

"A cake?" asked Marine.

"Yeah, you lost me as well." Tails tilted her head.

"Make me a cake." Sally answered. "And instead of the regular 2%, use your breast milk instead."

Tails would have fallen over if she remembered she was told not to, however, Bunnie filled that gap for her and crashed to the floor. Tails put her cup on the table.  
"I'm getting tired of everyone wanting my breast milk..." She said.

"Actually, baking a cake with an expectant mothers breast milk and eating it is a sign of good wishes for the mother. It also ensures the mother a safe delivery if the cake is eaten before the mother goes into labour." Sally cleared up.

"It still doesn't stop the fact that everyone keeps asking for my breast milk." Tails replied.

"Well, I don't want your milk in general; I just want a cake from you with your breast milk as an ingredient."

"You're lucky you're special to me, or I'd say no." Tails said.

"When Bernie was pregnant with Sonic, she did just what I am asking of you. She used her freshly pumped breast milk, mixed it into a cake, made a cake and let her friends eat it. This ensured a save delivery for Sonic... and we all know that it worked."

"I'll do it." Tails said. "But like I said, only because you are you. If you were anyone else except a few unnamed others, I would say no. But I'm not."

"She's lying." said Marine. "She also wants to deliver safely too."

"Huh?" Tails questioned Marine. "Now I'm completely lost..." Bunnie finally took her seat again.

"You want to birth safely, right Tails?" Marine questioned.

"Who wouldn't?"

"I'll make sure she bakes the cake, Sally."  
"No, Tails should do it of her own free will." Sally pointed out. "I don't want it if she wouldn't do it for others, because it has the opposite effect." Tails just decided to stop talking and finished her tea.

"You know. Even if I wanted to, I need to make sure it's okay with Dr. Quack." Tails said, after 5 minutes.

"Why's that, sugah?" Bunnie asked.  
"My breast milk has Chaos Energy in it."

_So that's why he wanted to know if I start swelling up._ Thought Marine. _This might have the same effect like that one woman from the Kamyla movies. Only we weren't drugged._

"I see." said Sally. "Well, you have been exposed to chaos energy before and you've turned out fine. So this just might offset things in your body."

"I will still check." Tails said.

"Well, how did you get here by chance?" Sally just remembered something.

"By ship." Tails replied.

"Well, that's a bummer. It's past last launch, so you'll be stuck here until morning."

"You make it sound like a bad thing." Tails said.

"Well, you and Marine can always enjoy staying the night at your hut."

"There's a spare mattress still in there, right?" Tails asked.

"Y'all got nothin' to worry about." Bunnie said. "Everything in yer hut's as mint as yer left it, if not cleaner."

"That's good then."

"I guess we better grab a bit of munchies then." said Marine.

"Sure." Tails said, before standing and neatening the creases in her clothing. Taking her present from the table, she turned to Sally and Bunny. "Thanks for being so understanding about my situation." She said.

"We always will, even if things don't sound pleasant." said Sally.

"Still, thank you." Tails said. "We're going to go now."

Tails and Marine left the castle and were heading down the way. "Hey Tails, I just had an ironic moment." said Marine.

"Oh?" Tails questioned.

"Sally said the fashion show incident was how she had heard about you in the paper, but wasn't she and Sonics' mom doing modelling?"

"Yes...she was..." Tails remembered.

"Perhaps that paperwork is a way of picking up on what she missed that day in her official duties."

"What are you saying?"

"I think that Sonics' expression of pride about you coming out could've been because he ran into his mom and got filled in."

"What do you mean? You mean that's why Sonic didn't blow his top when I announced, because he knew before I told him?"

"It's possible. And if Sonics' mom knows what Sally knows, then word of your being female may already be exaggerated here. Or maybe I'm just jumping to conclusions."

"Well, Bunnie didn't know." Tails said.

"And Antoine thought it to be a hoax. But I wonder if Wave managed to catch that part at the end."

"You think Wave knows?"

"I think Wave is the one who did that news tip-off... But since I can't prove that..."

"Oh..." Tails lowered her ears. "Anyway, shall we go back to the hut or grab something to eat on the way?"

"That's on you."

"Well, I would like to rest a little, but we need food." Tails said. Then something snapped inside of her. "Wait a moment...That news report had me send a message to Miley Inari but.....I didn't send that message. So who did?"

Marine began to lose herself in thought. "Good question...."

*

Meanwhile back in Station Square, Rouge was working in her club and Shadow was sat in a dark corner with a beer on the table, but he hadn't touched it. He was in one of those corner couch like seats which bent around the corner. He was in the lounge position with one leg up on the chair, the other on the floor.

"So, you ready to talk about this yet?" asked Rouge.

"Bah..." Shadow replied. "If I must."

"Start talkin' then."

Shadow looked away from her. "About what exactly?" He asked.

"How you feel, what you're thinking, why you've been easy to irritate as of late, and then there's that one question that I've heard too."

"That question is?"

"Not sure exactly... something about tidy white and red."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Shadow lied.

"Well, then answer the other questions."

"How I feel? I feel the question is completely irrelevant. What am I thinking? What brutal ways I can kill the Doctor. Why have I been so easy to irritate lately? Because everyone strives to piss me off." Shadow said.

"Oh, now I remember the question. Tidy white or Candy apple red?"

"Neither." Shadow said.

"Of course... You prefer midnight black."

"Wrong again, though I don't mind that one."

"I normally don't ask this but... Would you care for a lap dance?"

"For what reason are you offering?"

"Well, the club isn't up and running, Omega's in sleep mode, we're the only ones here, and I figured that you need something to cheer you up."

"I'll pass."

"You better not waste that beer."

"I won't." Shadow said. "And just so you know, the reason I am so irate is because I failed to stop the Doctor from hurting Tails."

"Do you think that Tails has something to do with that challenge Vanilla has for you?"

"Bah. She's the sole part of it."

"Really? So what's at stake for this challenge anyway?"

"To tell the truth, I don't know what I'm supposed to do for it. And if I don't do it, I can't get the last Chaos Emerald."

"Chaos Emerald, so Vanilla has it eh? I would've thought it'd be in Gmerl."

"It doesn't matter where it is, unless I pass this stupid ridiculous mindless test, I can't get it!" Shadow fumed.

"Remember that Gmerl is Emerl reprogrammed and that Emerl once held all seven chaos emeralds before going berserk. I figured that Vanilla would've put the last one in Gmerl. Then I would've just challenged Gmerl to a fight and win the emerald that way. But I guess you already thought of that, didn't you?"

"I don't want to hurt Vanilla, and since she uses him as body armor, that proves a problem."

"Not unless you overpower him. When Emerl went berserk, Eggman demonstrated a higher amount of power than his peaceful safeguard programming."

"Yeah, well. A part of me also remembers that Gmerl defeated a machine that...beat me. I have been humiliated once already. Never again."

"Then I guess you can always take Tails out on a date." Shadow fell out of his seat knocking the table and the beer nearly fell as well, but Rouge saved it.

"What did I tell you about the beer?"

"It's intact, is it not?" Shadow said standing up.

"And what is so bad about taking Tails out on a date?"

Shadow thought for a moment. "Yes, I see where you're coming from. I'll take Tails on a date, then seduce her late at night." He said sarcastically, before retaking his seat.

"You could do that, or just ask her for a blowjob."

"She'd probably have no idea what to do. I wouldn't risk my own safety on that." Shadow retorted.

"If she can give one to Cream, she can give one to you." Rouge joked.

"Licking carpet and sucking cock are two different things."

"Cream doesn't have hair down there. And if a rabbit that is two years younger than Tails knows how to practice head on a dildo, the fox can give it."

"Why are we talking about this again?"

"It might be the only way Vanilla will give you the emerald. And besides, what does it matter to you if Tails' face is in your lap for ten minutes? You're getting the chaos emerald, no one's putting out, you get to bust a much needed nutt, win-win-win situation."

"So, to solve my problems, I need head from a pregnant fox?"

"Who knows... head won't kill you."

"And what makes you think Tails would even **do** that? And with me, Mr Emotionless Ultimate Life Form who quite frankly couldn't give a fuck about the world, wants only to defeat Sonic in near enough every way and generally hates all forms of contact with other people?"

"Point taken... you're gonna have to screw her." Shadow fell out of his seat again and the beer was not touched this time.

"Lemme take back that beer. All that sober falling over isn't healthy."

Shadow stood. "Why are you so insistent to pair me with Tails?" He asked.

"Because you love her?"

"..." Shadow was quiet for a while. "Nonsense." He said before walking past Rouge and toward the exit.

"Fine, ask Vanilla for a hint when she's done with Tikal's show."

Shadow stopped walking, but didn't turn to Rouge. "So what if I do? Let's put that idea on the table and say that I do feel for the fox. What difference would it make in the end when it wouldn't be returned? I made a vow that I wouldn't care for another, so why would I start now?" He asked.

"Because circumstances have changed." Rouge answered. "You never felt bad about anyone besides Maria or Omega until this happened to Tails. But I guess you're confused about your feelings when they finally start happening to you."

"Maybe I am. Maybe I don't understand. But whether or not I do means nothing in the end." And Shadow continues walking.

"Fine, good luck having six out of seven."

"You don't get it at all." And Shadow left.

Rouge sipped the beer that Shadow didn't even touch. "I get it, but this beer isn't helping." she said. "Shadow is gonna have to screw that fox, I just know it."

"EMOTIONS ARE MAKING HIM WEAK." Said a mechanical voice from the other side of the room.

"Compassion doesn't weaken us, Omega. It only makes us human."

"YOU ARE NOT HUMAN."

"The phrase was rhetorical, Omega. I mean that it makes him more organic."

"SO MUCH FOR THE ULTIMATE LIFE FORM WHEN HE IS BURDENED BY MEANINGLESS EMOTION."

"Emotions are not meaningless."

"PERHAPS NOT FOR YOU. BUT IF SHADOW IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE ULTIMATE WEAPON, WHY IS HE DISTURBED BY EMOTION?"

"Let's just say his programming is advancing and adaptability is being compromised."

"HE SHOULD JUST FUCK THE FOX AND GET ON WITH IT. THIS POINTLESS DILLY-DALLYING OVER EMOTIONS MAKES HIM AN EASY TARGET WHEN HE CAN'T FOCUS ON BATTLE."

"_I'm glad that I'm recording this still._ Omega.... you and me both."

"DO YOU NEED ANYTHING? OR SHALL I RETURN TO STANDBY?"

"Back to standby, Omega. I'll take things over from here."

"AFFIRMATIVE." And Omega returns to the back.

Rouge stopped recording. "Shadow is going through so much angst... no matter, he'll survive."

*

Amy was in the elevator of the hospital, holding a bundle of roses. She was in hopes that Tikal was going to be forgiving. She'd been told that she regained consciousness and was sent to her room. The elevator stopped and she got out on the floor, heading to the room. Swallowing a lump in her throat, Amy approached the room to hear laughter and it was definitely Tikal.  
"Tikal? Are you okay in here?" And Amy was right, Tikal was near enough in tears laughing at something on the television. "What's so funny?"  
"L-look who's on my show." She laughed.  
"Vanilla?" Amy asked coming in and looking at the screen. She then too began laughing aloud. "Wave was your guest? Oh god, that's hilarious."

"So what's with the flowers?" asked Tikal.

"They're to apologise...for what I did. It was completely out of order and I deserve to be punished for it." Amy replied.

"So you want me to punish you, eh?"

"I don't want you to, I just said I deserve to be."

"O-kay. Well it's nice to see Shade again."

"Again?" Amy questioned.

"Of course."

"You saw her during the Nocturnes incident?"

"No, but the Nocturnus always fought for land with my father. I made a friend in Shade, but we kept conversations private and out of reach of the tribes informers.

"Oh, I see." Amy said, she took a seat next to Tikal's bed. "So, what will my punishment be?"

"You'll know it in time. But for now, let's see how Vanilla deals with these people with relationship problems.... She's doing well so far."

"Somehow I want Cream and Tails to appear in their underpants just to ruin the show." Amy giggled.

"No, that won't happen, but having them on the show to deal with their relationship would be nice."

"Considering how unstable they both are at the moment, I don't see that happening."

"Those two should just have sex."

"Better Cream than Sonic." Amy pouted.

"There you go again."

"I can't help it. Sonic is mine and mine alone...at least, I believed that until he completely dumped me." Amy lowered her head.

"So Sonic dumped you?"

"Well, it would have been a dump if we were dating. I won't get him now, I see that I never had a chance with him to begin with and I was just fooling myself. And I hurt you in the process."

"Look at it this way, you'll get over it."

"No, I'm going celibate. No more men for me."

"I hope you have a vibrator ready."

"Would you mind if we stop talking about it?"

"It won't have you come to terms with me anyway."

"Huh?"

"So, how are you gonna deal with your place?"

"I have no place."

"Oh..."

"My landlord came and threw me out."

"I take it you didn't get the security deposit back."

"No."

"I have something for you to use."

"Oh? What's that?"

"I left it at home, but it'll help you big time."

"What is it?"

"Useful information."

"Regarding?"

"Your current situation."

"I see." Amy said. "Well, I have enough money to get a flat in Radical City, so i plan to move there."

"How do you plan on getting your plane ticket?"

"I'll come up with something." Amy sighed. "It doesn't matter what happens to me now. My life ended when Sonic trashed me."

Tikal looked at Amy. "Lock the door to my room, will you?"

Amy stands, walks over to the door and closes it, locking it before going and taking her seat again.

"Is it thoroughly locked?"

"No one will get in easily." Amy said. "Why?"

"Good... now strip."

"What?" Amy looked at Tikal with an eyebrow raised.

"Strip. Take it all off, all except your gloves and socks."

"Now you're just creeping me out."

"Are you gonna get naked, or do I have to rip those clothes off of you?"

"Fine fine, sheesh. But first." And Amy walks over to the window into the halls and closes the blinds. She then proceeds to remove her dress, and places it on the chair, she unclips her bra and removes it, slipping off her shoes, and she removes her panties, but doesn't turn to Tikal. "Now what?" She asked.

"Stand still, I wanna have a look at you." and Tikal stood up.

Amy looked over her shoulder. "Should you really be getting up?"

"Relax, it's not like you can kill me."

Tikal started to walk away from her bed. She was wobbly at first, but managed to walk normally anyway. She walked towards and circled Amy's nude body, then returned to the bed. "Well, you don't appear to have any bruises on you."

"Why would I have bruising?" Amy asked.

"You said Sonic trashed you, yet you have no bruising. He actually yelled at you to the point that you had a nervous breakdown after being dumped. Put your clothes back on."

"I never said he attacked me, not physically anyway." And Amy got dressed again.

"But I was right, wasn't I?"

"Yes..."

"Point taken. Now, let's watch my show."

"Okay." And Amy took her seat and watched as Wave poured her heart out to Vanilla about her failing love life.

"Amy, you're upset with yourself at this time, but it'll pass."

"Maybe, maybe not. I don't know what will happen. Or care that much either."

"I see."

"Sonic was my whole world, there's nothing if there's no Sonic."

"Sonic isn't in Radical City, so why move there?"

"He doesn't want me, Tikal. And I can't be around knowing that."

"So what's next after the move?"

"I don't know. I live and die a miserable life."

"Adopt a kid if it makes you feel better."

"That won't work for me."

"I see. You don't have any other purpose in life..."

"Nope, I had my life planned out and that's all gone now."

"Well, you still have one purpose in life before you leave and that is to deal with Eggman."

"Maybe I can do one final act by committing suicide, taking Eggbutt with me." Amy thought aloud.

"Cream will be very sad without you..."

"She doesn't need me."

"You're her big sister."

Amy stood up. "Well, I hope you get better soon. I'm going to head off to my tent. I'll see you later, okay?" And Amy took her leave.

"Stay alive for Tails' at least. She doesn't need a dead friend before her daughter's birth." But Amy didn't reply and was gone in moments.

A figure appeared in the room. "Not a happy topic, I take it?" Shadow asked.

"Amy's borderline suicidal."

"I noticed."

"Any luck with Vanilla's challenge?"

"Rouge gave me a few suggestive ideas which are pointless."

"Like what?"

"Sexual interaction with Tails."

"You mean like fingering her preggo cunny until she has an orgasm?"

"Not quite."

"So you have to stick the vibe up her preggo cunny until she has an orgasm?"

"And people say all males are perverts, with ideas like that I wonder if that logic is true or if it applies to females as well." Shadow cleared his throat. "No, Rouge wasn't that graphic, she started off with the suggestion of getting head, but after a few logical comments she decided to up it to just plain screwing Tails."

Tikal giggled. "That might actually work."

"How's that?" Shadow asked.

"She'll probably give you head. Sex is out of the question, but Tails will more likely give you head."

"What makes you say that? I don't even see **kissing** as an option, let alone her going down on me..."

"Do you want me to give you a blowjob?"

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't say no, either."  
"Why would you offer me head?"

"Think of my face instead of Tails' if you need to."

"I'm not following..."

"Fine. Sit next to me on the bed." Shadow sighed, shrugged and did as he was told.

"Now, open up down here."

Shadow spreads his legs, but frowns.

"What's with the face?" asked Tikal.

"You should know me as the type who doesn't smile a lot." Shadow replied.

"Fare enough." Tikal gets down on her knees in front of Shadow, properly positioned for the act. "Look at me, Shadow." said Tikal. "Don't be scared, just look at my face."

Shadow looks down at Tikal. "What makes you think I'm scared?"

"Just look at me, Shadow."

"I am looking at you

"But can you remember my expression?"

Shadow raises an eyebrow. "What one? The lecturers 'look at me' one?"

"Funny. Just remember my current gaze... And when Tails' face is bobbing up and down your length, just think that it's coming from me." Tikal then stood up and sat next to Shadow again. "If you can do that, then you should be fine."

"You know you're not making any sense at all." Shadow said. "Are you insinuating I should pretend that I'm getting head from you rather than Tails. That's not the issue here." Shadow crossed his legs and stared at Tikal.

"Fine, then think of Rouge's face... or Maria's face if it helps you."

"Not the damn issue." Shadow said. "You make it sound like I'd get in that situation. I don't see that happening."

"And when it does happen, then what?"

"It won't. So I don't need to think about that."

"Fine. I guess you'll want to leave then?"

"Nope, I'm having a nice chat here and I'm sticking around, unlike Amy who runs away from her problems." Shadow replied. "If it came around to it, I have no problems knowing it's Tails."

"You may still be here, but you're still running from your problems."

"Honestly, what would anyone see in me? All I do is push people away."

"You hide the soul and can't wish to open up. Many women like men who act as you are acting in hopes to show them that it isn't wrong to show affection." and Tikal folds her arms. "And besides, A guy has serious problems if he can't enjoy getting his dick sucked by a girl."

"Heh, something tells me Tails is too interested in Sonic to give me a second glance." Shadow laughed.

"She's been grateful to you so far. And besides, you might as well ask. Tails will either service you, or not."

"Like I'm going to ask her. You have more chance of Sonic begging Amy for sex." Shadow said.

"You can't get it up, can you?"

"Last time anything was 'exciting' enough to get me excited was 50 years ago." Shadow said.

"Does that mean you have your own personal porn stash of Maria, or are you unable to get it up?"

"Hm, I haven't **tried** to get it up. I'm not one of those horny idiots who erect to everything or feel the need to beat off for any reason."

"I was wrong, you can get hard..." Tikal shrugs.

"Oh, and how do you figure that?"

"Arrogant guys can always get hard."

"Is that so?"

"Yup. But knowing 'Mr. Ultimate Life form' the Hedgehog, you probably have Down Dick Syndrome."

"I'll ignore that."

"Do you even know what Down Dick Syndrome is?"

"Since we've seemingly clarified that I can get hard, you're implying I have a small package."

"No, that is Mini-me Syndrome."

"Then what are you implying?"

"That despite the fact that you can get hard, you have Down Dick Syndrome."

"That doesn't tell me anything."

"So you want to know then?"

"No, I'm asking questions for the fun of asking." Shadow replied sarcastically.

"Well, men get hard with Down Dick Syndrome..." Tikal giggled.

"You've lost me..."

"Men can still pop a boner with DDS, but the erection curves downward instead of up."

"Hm, No. I don't have that."

".... 'Hm, No. I don't have that.' Couldn't just answer straight I see..."

"Odd, I thought I did."

"You thought you had DDS?"

"No."

"I mean, having DDS isn't so bad. Most guys' downward curve goes past their balls and in some finds itself in the buttcrack."

"You know, you're going from barely tolerable to slightly annoying."

"Fine, I'll quit taunting your shallow ass. But when you get the solitude for it... Think about Tails' female body and masturbate. If you get off, then you know you want her." Shadow doesn't respond to that.

"Get out of here, I'll be fine. You're the one who has thinking to do."

"And if I refuse and want to stay and continue chatting, then what?"

"Then I can always tell you about some of my guests and offer you suggestions on how to get balls deep in Tails."

"I know that stupid rumour running about you females about my being in love with Tails, and I'll admit that since that incident all I think about is Tails, unlike before when I used to think about only Maria and beating Sonic. But beating Sonic doesn't even come into mind much anymore either. And I'm not talking about molesting Tails, she's just there, taunting the back of my mind, so it pisses me off that people assume to advise me on 'fucking her' so casually." Shadow stands and walks to the window, looking out onto the streets.

"I say get your dick sucked and I can give you pointers on actually screwing Tails." Tikal shrugs. "Now if I were you and wanted at Tails, I would probably hit it from the back... have her--No, that's not a good position for preggos... What's your opinion on having anal sex?"

"Against it."

"So no anal sex with Tails.... Well, you'll probably sit her in your lap and bounce her, that's safe for pregnant mothers. I've actually had pregnant guests that suggest that one, even in the last trimester."

"You're pretty sex obsessed, aren't you?"

"You went fifty years without action while in a stasis pod, I went thousands of years without action as a sphere of energy in the master emerald."

Shadow then turns to Tikal and grins slyly. "So, you're just sexually frustrated."

"Frustrated? Masturbating with a dildo hurts me. I have what is called dyspareunia."

"So, you couldn't have pleasant sex if you wanted to."

"No, it would hurt me. My vaginas have actually shrunk."

"That's a shame. Here I had a small deal proposal." Shadow shrugged.

"I didn't think you'd actually give me the time of day in bed."

"You didn't think I'd give anyone the time of day in bed. But we're all full of surprises. I wouldn't have thought you to be the type of girl who's so sexually frustrated that you needed to vent so much on sex, being the innocent chief's daughter and all." Shadow retorted.

"I make too much of my guest's sex lives personal."

"You shouldn't. That's unprofessional." Shadow said. "I guess you're not interested in my offer." And he turns to the window again.

"Did you ever think that Tails' taunting you in the back of the head could be a sort of sexual tension? Knuckles did tell me how you went berserk when Eggman mention Tails' panties with your logo on them."

"Maybe, maybe not."

"So get Tails to give you head then and get her out of your mind."

Shadow turns around and leans against the wall. "I can't do that."

"Then continue to have her taunting you in the head."

"If I were to show weakness in front of you, what would you do?"

"Give you a hug. Not that you seem to have that, would you?"

"What? Weakness?"

"You don't take the time to get to know people."

"I don't consider that a weakness." Shadow looked at Tikal firmly. "If I continue talking, nothing I say leaves this room, understood?"

"Look at it this way... You have one friend, one associate, three rivals, two hobbies and a lot of enemies."

"And what do you think my hobbies are?"

"Collecting chaos emeralds and Extreme Gear."

"My lack of friends is my choice. But, I will tell you this much, I have no luck when it comes to opening up to girls."

"That was obvious, all of us know that."

"Heh, well. Let me make you a deal then. You help me hitch up with Tails, and I'll do a request for you." Shadow offered.

"Like what?"

"That's on you."

"Hmm..."

"I might protest to a request, but try me. I'm doing stupid meagre tasks for Vanilla, so I don't see why I should reject too much you ask."

"I see. Well, it shouldn't be too hard."

"This deal has a catch, my part won't be played until _after_ the whole Tails thing. Also, no one is to know, unless you don't like having your skull still intact."

"Fine, I'll pointer you from the Shadows."

"Anyway, now I shall leave you in peace." Shadow said. He took a chaos emerald and looked at Tikal. "Anything else you want to say before I leave?"

"Get to know what Tails likes, then find a common ground on it. Think of that as your first pointer."

"Hmm..." Shadow thought. Then warped away.

Tikal simply turned back to the TV. "I hope you have to screw Tails to get Vanilla's emerald." she said. "You'll be better off getting some from a girl, and you won't be all pissed off."


	15. Chapter 15

Okay people, this portion of the story is going to be the first of a few things. Unlike the majority of the story, this chapter (and at least two more chapters) will be done in first person perspective. Once again, if there are any of you that are squeemish about what this chapter offers, feel free to skip ahead. Now let's DAMN THE TORPEDOES!

The Knothole night life... This is the first time I actually get to experience the Knothole night life. The talk with Sally and Bunnie went well, and they didn't freak out like Tails thought... at least Sally didn't anyway. "So Tails, where's a good place to eat?" I asked.

"Not sure, Knothole has changed since I last came here." Tails answered.

"Remember any good joints to eat?"

"A few, but they probably aren't around anymore."

"You never know until you find out, luv."

"True..."

Tails still felt a bit down, but it didn't stop us girls from getting a few bites to eat. We went to where Tails remembered a good food joint, but that part of town was long gone. So we decided to hit up another old joint, but it wasn't like the usual. It was now a residential area now, full of homes and a park. Onward was the trip down memory lane and many of the other old joints were either gone, or no longer a place to get grub. Tails was starting to feel blue from this, but I just stayed supportive.

Finally, Tails wanted to hit up one last place, a diner. Thankfully, this place was still a diner and still lively as ever. It was one of those vintage diner-type joints with the old jukeboxes and serving malts. We had a seat and figured a chat would break the ice. "So, how hungry are you?" I asked.

"Let's just say I'm ready for a good meal." Tails answered.

"Well, we'll have quite the meal."

Some pig in a skirt came up to us, clearly she was our waitress. "Hey, you're Miley Inari, right?" she asked. "I saw you on the news regarding Honey's fashion show."

Tails had a sweat drop. "Um, thanks a lot." she said.

"You're looking pretty big there, how many are you having?"

"One... and she's a big girl." Tails rubbed her belly.

"Well, congratulations."

"So what on the menu is a good filler upper?" I asked.

"Well, we have the 'Hungry Man's Special'." the waitress said. "We have a quarter pound steak, a side salad and your choice of mashed potatoes, baked potato, fries or tots."

"Is there anything like that for the healthy conscious people?" I asked.

"Two Hungry Men for me." said Tails.

"We have a one and a half pound tofu burger." the waitress mentioned.

"Spaghetti & Meatballs for me." I ordered.

"I see. Now on those HMs..."

"One with tots and the other with a baked potato." Tails answered.

"Butter, sour cream and chives?"

"Chives and A1."

"Nice choices." said the waitress as she wrote the order down. She then addressed me. "Would you like meat sauce or marinara?"

"Meat sauce." I answered.

"Anything to drink?"

"Chocolate Double Malt." Tails answered.

"Whipped cream?"

"And a cherry." and Tails had a smile on her face.

"I'll have a Yin-yang Shake." I ordered.

"Nice choices." and the waitress wrote everything down. "By the way, did you tell your family about your daughter?"

"I let everyone see the sonograms too. Lots of love and support on it, but I'm still a bit scared."

"You'll do fine, Miley. Well, off to get your drinks."

The waitress left and I just looked at Tails. "Is something the matter, Marine?" she asks me.

"Nothing at all," I answer, "it's just nice to see you smile since you've been frumpy and all."

"I guess you're right. Honey would be pissed to see me sad about my pregnancy if she were here."

I simply shook my head. _Tails really does need a good relaxer._ I thought to myself. _I'll probably rub her down later..._

"What are you thinking about?" Tails asked.

"The usual... That and something Honey said about lamaze classes. I don't believe her story about that sort of knowledge. She's hiding something..."

"Point taken."

"Look at it this way, getting pregnancy support from someone in the fashion industry is a real confidence booster."

"Too bad I keep forgetting that."

"Okay ladies, here are those drinks." We then saw the manager of the diner at our table holding the drinks. "So, you've been back home?" he asked.

"Yes, I was visiting my family here and showing the sonograms to them also." Tails answered the manager. "I had to show them the sonograms too."

"I see." and the manager set our drinks in front of us.

"So this is the Yin-yang shake... looks pretty fancy." I said.

"Not really, but it is fun to make." said the manager. "So what are you having?"

"A girl." Tails answered.

"Could've fooled me, you look like you're having a boy. Is the doctor sure you aren't having twins?"

Neither of us verbally answered, but we did knock on the wooden table. The manager gave a bow and smile, then left us to our drinks. Fifteen minutes and a trip to the can later, we were enjoying our meals. "I like a good steak, especially two good steaks, especially two well done steaks." said Tails.

"Yeah, this is some good spaghetti too." I said. "Did Lavender enjoy her steak?"

"Yeah, but the salad dressing wasn't proper choice."

"Use French next time."

"But I like Italian."

"And I like bleu cheese, but a substitute is always good to have."

"Bleu cheese?"

"Being rhetorical, luv."

Apparently, we got the bill for half price thanks to the kind manager... and Tails showing the sonogram shots to the kind manager. We even got free slices of cheesecake to boot. We split the bill and I covered the tip, then we left for Tails' hut. "Such nice people in that diner." I said happily.

"That just means you'll come back." said Tails.

"Yup."

*

Nightfall came and we enjoyed the time together. A good few laughs and some of that nursing tea that Sally gave Tails alongside our free dessert. What a great day. "I really liked how kind they were." said Tails.

"Me too." I agreed. "It was also nice to know that the diner is still around."

"Man, I'm suffering from the Itis."

"Itis? Should I take you to a doc?" I asked.

Tails laughed. "No, no, no. Do you ever get that sleepy feeling after you eat a good meal?"

"Yeah, why?"

"That's the Itis."

"Oh."

"Well, I think I'll have a sleep now."

"Itis must be a real mother."

"Not really, but it's effective." and Tails giggled.

I figured that this would be the only shot I had at Tails, so I took it. "Well, I better tell you about another side effect to the Itis." I told her.

"Wait, what are you-"

Before Tails could finish, I kissed her on the lips. Her expression was shocked as she didn't think I would be so forward. "Ma...Marine, hold on a minute." she said.

"Are you forgetting what was said earlier?" I asked. "I told you that I wasn't giving up on you and that I want some."

"Marine, I can't..."

"Then allow me."

"Hold on, I can't do this sort of thing..."

"You would for Cream, wouldn't you?"

Tails looked away from me. "Marine...."

I turned Tails' face to meet mine. "I don't care if you're boy or girl, pregnant or not, my feelings won't change about you."

"Marine, we're both girls... Not that I have anything against lesbians, but-"

I kissed her lips again, cutting her off. She did break away from me though. "You aren't getting out of this without a bit of loving, and you can really go for it."

"I..."

Before I gave Tails a chance to rouse an argument, I let my hands go to work. I started rubbing her shoulders, traced her body with my fingers, then went to rub that round thing of hers... the one in the front. Tails was red in the face from my touch, but didn't complain about how my hands went across her frame. Instead, we shared another kiss and I continued to make her body feel like putty. After a bit, I had Tails lying back, then went down to that round thing in the front. "Now that you're happy, I'm gonna deal with your mum." I said, then took my index finger and went across her belly. The next part shocked both of us... Tails' belly poked out in a small dent and followed the same line as my finger. "Crikey..." I trailed off.

Tails was more shocked then I was. "Do that again." she said.

"Sure." I then traced my finger vertically, stopping before Tails' navel... and the same thing happened from before.

"Wow, incredible..."

"Looks like Lavender wants to play for a while."

"Looks like..."

This time, I drew out "hi" on Tails' belly, from right to left starting with the "I"... and Lavender followed me again. I then pointed on Tails' belly and held my finger there, but no response happened. "I guess that's it." said Tails.

"Yup." I agreed and let go.

We waited thirty seconds, but nothing happened, so back to plan A. I placed my hands under Tails' skirt and removed her panties, then I removed my leggings and spread her eagle. "You aren't hard to please." I told her.

"Marine, I'm so embarrassed..." Tails trailed off, red in the face.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you feel better."

"Not so rough...."

I giggled at Tails' request and lifted up her left leg, then placed it in my lap and my left leg in her lap, then began thrusting against her. So began my first time with Tails... I think it's called "trotting" when two girls rub their lips together like how we are, but we both felt it and neither of us planned on stopping anytime soon. Every so often we would switch legs, or I would put Tails on her side as we trotted along, but we egged each other on with sensual moaning. Tails was reluctant at first, but she was getting the hang of it... like I knew she would.

I never would've expected to have sex with Tails while she was pregnant... Hell, I never expected sex with Tails if Tails were a guy and we were expecting our first born child with me being pregnant. I didn't care at all, I loved every minute of it and didn't want to change this feeling for the world. I always wanted my first sex with Tails and I got it... and knowing that I beat Cream to the punch made me even more loving and sensitive towards Tails. I wanted more from her during our intercourse, but I wasn't gonna push it. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and panted, just as I was the same way. In the end, we wore each other out and I cuddled next to Tails when the deed was done. Ten minutes of sex, and none of it was bad.

*

I woke up in the middle of the night and hit the can. I could tell she was in there, but I just made sure it wasn't a mess. After I was done and lay next to Tails, I placed my arm around her belly and turned to the side. It was then that I noticed Tails' nipples were leaking, so I figured that I'd have a drink. Of course, I rotated between both of her hootz, then had an odd idea. _Is it possible to..._ So I positioned myself and held Tails' hootz so I could suck from both nipples at once. It didn't result from anything at first, but then I got the proper twin squirt. _There we go...._ and drank up like it was nothing else. Tails' milk was still plain, but it felt a bit better this time around then the first time. I guess it's because it wasn't pumped...

*

Morning came, just before dawn and Tails woke up. It also woke me up as well and Tails realized what had happened to her. "Oh god, what did I just do?" she was about to panic.

"Relax luv, we just had sex." I told her.

"That wasn't a dream?"

"Nope, and you should feel better now for-"

"I'm gonna freak out... I really had sex with a girl and-"

"Hey, pull together already. You act like you didn't feel good from it."

Tails was about to cry. "You don't understand, I'm not emotionally stable to sex, especially lesbian sex... How could you? Why did you?"

"Because I love you, Tails." I told her.

"I'm sorry?"

I looked deep into Tails' topaz blue eyes. "I said, I love you. I've been in love with you for a while."

"Do you really love me?"

"Of course. Also, you needed to have sex."

"I... I don't understand, but at least you don't want to ignore me like Rouge does."

"Rouge never wanted to ignore you, she simply wanted you to count your blessings."

"Count my... blessings?"

"Yes, your blessings."

Tails was confused, but went to brush her tails as I was stretching. "The idea of ignoring you was based on an improper assumption from Shadow and Sonic." I stated. "The point wasn't to ignore you, but to give you personal space like nothing ever happened. To give you the same 'solitude' that you had as a guy. Sure, it gives you time to think with Lavender and let's you breathe, but you were going to be watched from a distance. We simply wanted to let you have your freedom back, but still monitor you. The purpose of this was so that you would have to deal with things like you always did before all of this, with your brainpower. The point was to let you be on your own, leaving you to your solitude and Lavender."

"And your point is?" Tails asked, still brushing her tails.

"The point is to place you in your regular situation, in your pregnant state, then given time to think. Let's talk about when you decided to leave the hospital and Eggman showed up without us around. How would you be able to defend yourself from Eggman if he had a robot come after you? How would you be able to fend off the doctor? What would you do if you had complications with your home that you couldn't do because it would overexert you?

"Let's say you hurt yourself and your situation became critical, then what?"

"I..." Tails tried to respond.

"Can that medibot stand against Metal Sonic and many other badarse bots like Madness and get you out alive?"

"I... I don't know... Escape."

"And when you escape, being alone and on your own, how will you plan on getting help if none of us are around?"

"I..."

"And just how far will you be able to get from Eggman before he round you up?"

"I don't know!" Tails yelled. "I don't know...."

"Someone has to protect Lavender when you can't, Tails. That's where we come in to help you. We're not just doing this for you, but for Lavender also... You are very blessed to have such good fortune and love radiate its protective willpower around you and Lavender. Count these blessings, that is what Rouge wants you to do when we give you this solitude."

"I understand..."

"And as for the sex... There are three reasons why two people have sex: People have sex because they love each other and have the utmost affection for each other; people have sex because they need to find closure from an experience that has burdened them; and people have sex to save the bonds they have."

Tails stopped brushing. "I see."

"Now when we get back, you should apologize to Rouge for seeming ungrateful to her. After all, she's had her body broken and dislocated and her club got totalled out of love for you. Sure my ribs were almost critically broken from saving you, but we would all do it out of love for you without question."

Tails was ready to cry, what actually happened as she ran up and embraced me. "Marine, thank you so much."

"No problem, luv." I assured her. "Now let's clear up those waterworks and head back to the Ocean Tornado. I wanna leave early for first launch and get you back to Station Square, you do have lamaze classes to attend."

"That's right. That and we shouldn't worry Blaze."

"Then let's go, luv."

It had worked, Tails was feeling much better and we headed for the docks. Leaving her hut behind was great and all, but enjoying the feel of Knothole. Hopefully, Tails will end up with Cream for a round of sex to save what they have going. Tails, I love you so much, but don't ever forget your blessings.

*

((Back to third person perspective people.))

*

Tails and Marine are walking back to the ship. With the morning sun in the sky and the morning winds in their favour, the spirited captain wants to head back to Station Square for first launch. As the two board, Blaze is there waiting for them on the deck.

"You all finished having your fun?" She asked.

"We're good." Marine answered. "Let's shovel off while we have a good wind." Blaze nodded and the crew prepare the boat to ship off.

"How's the anchor?" asked Marine.

"Raised." Blaze replied.

"Good." Marine said with a smile. "The wind's at our back and the other boats are starting to move. Okay Tails, steer us onward."

The other boats were quick, but the Ocean Tornado was the first boat out of the harbour, taking the dibbs of "First Launch" of the day. After going out a far distance, the EMP was fired from the ship.

"Again no warning..." Tails sighed. "I hope Lavender is okay..."

"Of course there's no warning." said Marine. "That would alert the bugs on the ship to sound off."

"Nevermind."

The waters were calm and the wind was decent. The Ocean Tornado sailed at a speed of 25 knots. "So Blaze, what was your night around Knothole like?" asked Marine.

"I spent my time catnapping." Blaze replied.

"You do need your rest from time to time."

"It was relaxing."  
"That's good." Tails said.

"I like your aunts, Tails." said Marine. "Blaze, you should've seen Tails' aunt Bunnie. She has like, j-cup hootz and doesn't wear a bra. And she isn't even sagging."

Tails giggled, but Blaze sweat dropped. "I see." She said.

"I wonder what her secret is?"

"I love Bunnie dearly." Tails said. "She and Sally always know how to help me."

"Good, and make sure you settle things wit' Rouge when we get the chance."

"I have a lot of making up to do when we get back."

"Ya darn tootin', but it won't be hard."

"Maybe, maybe not. Cream was in quite a bad way when she ran away from me..."

"Well, I did let you know about how you can save things with her. Just be subtle."

"Yeah, okay."

"You two will be fine."

"So, what will you do on returning home?" Blaze asked.

"I'm going to Rouge first." Tails said.

"Actually, we're gonna rest up, then eat." corrected Marine.

"Fare enough..." Tails replied.

*

Meanwhile, Vanilla and Cream are having breakfast at home. Oddly enough, Knuckles and Shade are around as well for the meal.

"Wow, this makes a change from rations and plain food. I don't think I've ever had something so delicious..." She said, enjoying the breakfast.

"Mom does make a good breakfast." said Cream.

"Thank you, but it's the ingredients that make a good breakfast, not me." Vanilla said, being modest.

"Maybe Shade will teach you how to make some Nocturnus dishes." said Cream as she ate.

"Trust me; I don't think you want to know." Shade replied.

"It's not that bad." said Knuckles. "Tikal told Vanilla how to make some of the Knuckles tribe meals."

"You do know the main reasons we wanted _out_ of that place, right?" Shade asked.

"Freedom, or bad food?" asked Knuckles.  
"I thought you were tired of Ix." guess Cream.

"Those are 3 good reasons." Shade replied.

"Anyway, the crowd seemed to like how well you did filling in for Tikal at the end of the show." said Knuckles. "I feel glad for mentioning that you should cover, Vanilla."

"I'm just glad I could help out some people, Tikal included." Vanilla replied.

"Hearing Wave whine about not getting laid was funny." said Cream.  
"Maybe, but you didn't have to come from backstage to grill her." said Knuckles with a sweat drop.  
"She's just mad because I was right on the whole not getting her feathers ruffled in the mall."

"I felt sorry for her." Vanilla said. "No one likes having someone who they think is their boyfriend cheating on them."  
"Honestly, I couldn't care less." Shade said.

"I guess Knuckles was the closest thing to having a guy care about you that you ever experienced in your 4000+ years." said Cream.

"I have no idea what you mean." Shade replied.

There were 3 raps at the door.

"Should I get that, Mom?" asked Cream.

_It might be Tails..._ Vanilla thought. "No, dear. I'll get this one." She said, standing and heading to the door.

"Pass the salt, please." said Knuckles.

Shade passes the salt in Knuckles direction as Vanilla answers the door.  
"Oh, good morning, Tikal. Should you be up?" Vanilla asked.  
"I got released, I should be fine." Tikal replied.  
"Well, come on in." Vanilla said, letting Tikal in. The two return to the table.  
"Good morning everyone." Tikal smiled.

Shade looked at Tikal and nearly spat her food out. "Geez, I haven't seen you in nearly 4000 years." She said.  
Tikal smiled at Shade. "Yes, it has been a bit too long."  
"How are you feeling?"  
"Been better, been worse. I was still doing my job despite being in hospital. Oh..." And Tikal turns to Vanilla. "Thank you for filling in for me." She bowed.

"No problem.... though I don't think I did too well." said Vanilla.

"You did brilliantly. I couldn't have done it better myself." Tikal smiled. "Here's a little something for your trouble." And Tikal placed a bag on the table. "I hope they paid you well."

"Yes, I was well paid."  
"Shade was the one who worked for free." said Knuckles.

"I didn't need the money." Shade replied.  
"Oh, that won't do, Shade." Tikal said. "Let's see...minimum wage for security..." And Tikal takes her purse and pulls some money for Shade and passes it to her. "No buts, you take it and like it." Shade sighed and took the money. "And everyone is happy." Tikal smiled. She took a seat around the table. "Anyway, Vanilla, at some point, would you mind if I spoke to you in private about a few issues?"

"Fine, let's do just that." Vanilla answered.

"Shall we talk now or later?"

"_I'm worried about Cream, but I think I'll let Shade and Knuckles handle her._ No, I'm good. Follow me to my room."

Tikal nodded and the girls stand up and head into Vanilla's room. After closing the door, Tikal walks to the open space and turns to Vanilla. "My first issue concerns Amy greatly." She said.

"How so?" Vanilla asked.

"Despite the fact I hold no grudge over her about what happened at her apartment. It appears Sonic really nailed it into her head that he has no interest in her. She's borderline suicidal. She's jumping between moving to Radical City to live a miserable existence or committing suicide whilst trying to kill Eggman as well." Tikal explained.

"Sonic was her religion, so to speak. This is the girl whose sole purpose in life is to become Sonics' wife."

"We can't sit idly by and watch Amy destroy herself." Tikal said. "This is the reason I am bringing it to your attention, without informing Cream. I can sense that she's in a bad enough way as it is, without knowing her best friend and sister is trying to kill herself."

"Did she say when she planned on leaving?"

"I think she has some problems funding wise." Tikal said. "She mentioned she had enough for an apartment, but said she'd figure something out with the plane tickets. So unless she can slut her way into money, which I don't see her doing, she'll be a while."

"Tell me where to find Amy and I'll talk to her."

"She mentioned a tent, so quite possibly the park." Tikal then sighed. "I'd phone her, but she destroyed it in rage with the rest of her belongings."

"I see. And what of this other matter?"

"By telling you the other matter, I risk my own neck." Tikal smiled. "But I'm not too worried." She giggled. "Shadow's just a little bashful about it."

"Tell Shadow to ask me for a hint. That will deal with his troubles."

"I could do that. But, he wants me to arrange a date with Tails for him. He's a little shy." Tikal giggled again.

"I think he should ask."

"Yeah, well. He's a little pitiful for the ultimate life form in terms of woman, clearly." Tikal replied. "So, my jobs are to find Amy and Shadow and have them come see you, right?"

"Exactly."

"I think I can manage that. Anything else I should do?"

"Bring Shadow first; I have a few choice words for him."

"Is he going to get scolded? Can I watch?"

"If you can go without being caught."

"Well, I might have a few ideas." Tikal giggled.

"Good."

"Oh, if you would like to get more money, ask any time and you can fill in for a few more of my shows. I could use an assistant and I think you did great." Tikal said. "Anyway, that ends my issues."

"Right."

The girls return to the others who had finished breakfast.  
"Anyway, I think I'll take my leave now. I have a few issues to sort out." Shade said. "Thanks for breakfast, it was very nice."  
"Hey, you can't just leave. We gotta catch up!" Tikal pouted.  
"Feel free to tag along."

*

Amy was sat outside of her tent, she'd just cleaned her clothes in a manner she thought would never happen, a bucket and soap. Despite the fact she had to clean her clothes in such a way, they still turned out okay, and were on a wire she'd tied to two trees. Sitting back against the tree, she let out a long drawn out sigh.

"What a drag. I can't believe i let my rage get the better of me, i destroyed everything i own and lost my apartment...I don't even have enough money to fly to Radical city and get away...well, unless i don't want an appartment of course. It doesn't matter anyway. The one I love will never love me back, so what do I care if I die in the park." Amy sighed.

"What a pathetic way to end your existence." Shadow appeared standing in a tree. "Such a coward, you waste your life thinking that way."

"You're one to talk. You're no better than me, swooning over someone you'll never have. You're no better than me, I'll never get over Sonic just like you won't get over Maria." Amy snapped back.

"Maria may be gone, but I have learned to move on." Shadow shot back to Amy. "You simply choose to end your life instead of moving on."

"What is there to move on to? Sonic doesn't want me. He made that perfectly clear..." Amy sighed.

"Find other men to pursue. Sonic isn't everything, I learned that the hard way."

"But he is my everything. Without Sonic, I don't know what I will do..."

"Try moving on for one, apply for a job for seconds."

"You make it sound so easy to get over your love of your life. It's not a case of getting over it and moving on..."

"It's always a case of getting over it and moving on. Look at it this way, Sonic is still alive and you'll see him running around like always. More than I can say for Maria."

"But that makes it harder. The fact I'll see him and never have him is torture." Amy cried.

"You know nothing of torture." and Shadow leaped from the tree. "I had to watch Maria be slain, then was jettisoned. Unlike you, I had nothing I could do except fulfil a request.

"You can put this behind you, let yourself get stronger because of this and get on with your life. All while keeping a shred of your dignity. When you have to watch the cursed Hedgehog die in front of your eyes, then are carted off without being able to do anything. Once you witness this, then you can think about bringing an end to your life." Amy didn't reply, but it had her thinking. "You can choose to wallow in your self-pity like a pig in the mud, but don't expect me to join you in the slop." and Shadow warped away.

Amy simply sighed. _Maybe he's right. Maybe I am being stupid..._ She thought.

_Pitiful girl, so obsessed over that blue idiot._ Shadow thought as he skates down the street. _I better figure out more to Vanilla's challenge before anything else._ And on he skates. Shadow stopped running skating momentarily and looked at where he was. _Hm...Isn't this near that rabbits house?_ He thought. _I guess I'll go to the mystic ruins._ It was on those thoughts, two echidna saw him and walked over.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the horny echidna and her warrior friend." Shadow mocked.

"Horny?" Shade questioned.

"Pay no attention to Shadow, he's just emo." said Tikal.

"Anyway, you just had a nice chat with Vanilla I take it?" Shadow asked.

"She's concerned about Amy."

"Well, she might be a little more at ease, I think I might have prevented her from doing something stupid." Shadow replied.

"I didn't know you gave motivational speeches..."

"I was simply returning the favour. Since that incident at the ARK, let's just say I don't owe her any more favours."

"So, any luck with that project of yours?"

"I'm still on research stages." Shadow folded his arms.

"I'm curious." Shade said.

"It's about chaos emeralds." Tikal cleared up.

"I see..." Shade replied. _Somehow I don't feel that's the whole story..._ She thought.  
"Oh, if you want to know where little miss depressed is, she's in the park, having a long thinking session." Shadow told Tikal.

"Speaking of looking for people, Cream's mother wants to speak to you... if you can reach her fast enough, that is." Tikal said coyly.

"You clearly forget who you're talking to." Shadow replied. "I'll assume she's still at her house, or do I have to go on another wild goose chase?"

"You aren't faster than Sonic... and she's at home."

"I'm equally at speed with Sonic. And certainly am much faster than you. So watch what you say to me." Shadow narrowed his brow. One thing he did not like was being underestimated in comparison to Sonic. He walked on toward Vanilla's house.  
"He still has an attitude problem..." Shade spoke.

"Like I said, emo." said Tikal and giggled. "So, let's get you some clothes."

"What's wrong with my current attire?" Shade questioned as the two walk on.

Meanwhile, Shadow approached Vanilla's door, he wondered if he should knock _politely_ or if he should just warp in like normal. _Vanilla would probably use my random intrusion as another reason to have a go at me. I don't feel like being chewed out either..._ So Shadow, against his better judgement, knocked on the door.

To Shadow's surprise, Knuckles answered the door. "Look who's decided to make house calls." said the red echidna.

"I'm here because apparently Vanilla wants a word." Shadow replied. "Why are you here, anyway?"

"Tikal and Shade went out for girl time, so I figured that I'd just stay here." Knuckles explained. "Also, I'm checking on Cream. Anyway, come on in."

Shadow walked in and looked around the house as he did. _So this is the inside of Vanilla's house..._ He thought. _It's as expected..._ He noticed Cream sitting all glum at the dining room table and walked over, patting her on the head.  
"You know, you should return to being the happy girl you used to be, after all, people would die if there was another person like me running about." He teased.

"Do not give her reasons, Shadow." said Vanilla as she walked out of her room. "It's bad enough I had to ask Knuckles to watch her as I go about my runs today. Anyway, let's take a walk."

"I guess people like me should be better off not trying to help others. I can live with that." Shadow replied, shrugging.

"Help positively." shot Knuckles.

"What do you want me to do, come waltzing in wearing a clown suit?" Shadow retorted.

"That depends. You plan on dressing up as Bozo or Binky? I can see you doing Binky the Clown, especially the 'Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey kids' yell."

"Perhaps you'd like to give an example." Shadow grinned. "But, then again, you'd probably make kids cry and then beat them up for not liking your act." He mocked.

"Actually, I'm pretty good at storytelling. That helps when you have a brother who's an infant."  
"If you to are done, we need to talk." said Vanilla. "Let's go, Shadow. I mean, you aren't as swift as Sonic."

"I'm getting really tired of being compared to him." Shadow sighed. "Fine..." And Shadow and Vanilla leave.

Knuckles look over at Cream. "Hey, when you feel a little better, let's go to the gym and lift weights. You can even put on the Riders gear again and I'll sport you." he offered.

"Why would I want to lift weights?" Cream asked.

"It helps me feel better when I'm down. And besides, being stronger never hurts anyone. Well, just think about it..."

"I'll pass, but you _could_ try some of that story telling." Cream replied.

Meanwhile, Vanilla and Shadow were passing between floors in the elevator. Suddenly, Vanilla stops the elevator. "So, you're having problems with my challenge." she stated.

"I'm sorry that I don't seem to be seeing it like everyone else does." Shadow replied, crossing his arms and leaning back against the side of the elevator. "Was stopping the elevator really necessary? You'd think I had plans to escape, not that stopping the elevator prevents me from doing so."

"I did this so we could have a private moment of hot elevator sex." Vanilla joked.

"Not likely." Shadow replied.

"You probably aren't my type anyway. You probably have a fear of women, can't stand women, or just enjoy the company of men."

"You'd be wrong on all guesses." Shadow said. "Perhaps I simply don't like the idea of getting attached to someone again due to past experiences."

"_Yet this very thing is happening to him._ Well, go ahead and ask."

Shadow grinned. "For what? Help on your test, or head?"

"Both. Not like you would get it up for me anyway. And judging by your age, your boner would probably be fully hard while straight out."

"Please excuse me whilst I ignore that." Shadow retorted. "So, what does this trial of yours require of me?"

"Remember Shadow, you have to come resolve things with Tails. So what do you think this resolution permits?"

"If I knew that, we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we?"

"You could just to taunt me, like you usually taunt people. Anyway, you have to open up to Tails."

"And say what?"

"I can't read your mind. So, open up to Tails... and not just mentally. Open up to her physically too." Shadow doesn't reply, simply looks toward the floor of the elevator. "Is that too much of you to ask?"

"What will my opening up prove? It's not likely Tails would give me the time of day anyway."

"So you've asked before?"

"I haven't seen the point." Shadow replied, looking at Vanilla. "Besides, me opening up just gives her someone else to worry about shooting down."

Vanilla wasn't too happy with that response. "You won't even try, what a shame." she said and pressed the button to resume movement of the elevator. It resumed for a little while, but Shadow walked over to it and stopped it again. Walking back to his corner he turns to Vanilla.

"Fine, I'll open up as much as Tails allows, and once I do, even if in the end it proves useless, you give me the Chaos Emerald." He said.

"That doesn't resolve things with you and Tails." Vanilla said.

Shadow lowers his brow, clearly becoming frustrated. "Then what does?" He asked. "I can't force her to resolve things and you just said I needed to open up. This is beginning to become a bother. How do I resolve things, if what you tell me to do doesn't work?"

"You know what, I'll just come out and tell you." Vanilla said agitated, and Shadow leans back against the wall again.

"You have to get Tails to love you to a point where she'll willingly have sex with you. Matter of fact, you'll have to get some before she goes into delivery. And so you know, time isn't on your side." At this point, the elevator reaches the ground floor and opens up. "Now unless this happens, you will only hold six emeralds." Vanilla said as she left the elevator. "Now, you better learn how to open up and fast."

Shadow simply face palmed. _Fuck..._ He thought and warped away.

_Now, go earn my emerald._ Vanilla thought.

Shadow warps into Club Rouge and looks around. He walks over and sits at the bar and taps the side whilst he thinks.

"You look pissed." said Rouge.

"Not really." Shadow replied.

"Need a glass of red wine to calm you down?"

"Sure, why not."

"Well, I still have to stock things up before I can reopen. Hopefully I'll be done by next week."

"Hm, need any help with that?"

"So how's your itch?"

"Mine's a problem."

"So is mine, I'm losing too much money from these repairs."

"Well, like I said, I'll help you, if you help me."

"Can't help if you won't share."

"I need help on getting closer to Tails." Shadow replied, looking away from Rouge.

"Really, how close?" asked an intrigued Rouge.

"Sex close."

Rouge almost dropped the bottle of wine. "Is that so? Well, I do know how to seduce..."

"I have no intention of seducing her. According to Vanilla I need to have Tails...love me...to the point of willingly having sex with me." Shadow replied. "But to be honest, I'm still unsure."

"Wow, ironic twist..." Rouge had a cheese grin on her face as she poured Shadow's glass of red wine.

"How so?"

"Nothing... aside from the fact that Vanilla's pimping you out as part of her challenge is incredibly funny."

"In all fairness, I thought you girls were just horny to assume my task was getting balls deep in Tails." Shadow said.

"Well, even Omega would rather you get some then act all.... what the word... angsty."

Shadow sweat dropped. "Okay, that I didn't see coming." He said. "I don't like the idea though. Even if I did do this task and got the final chaos emerald. I still don't want to become attached."

"So I take it that you gotta go balls deep when Lavender is off the titty?"

"Actually, I'm on a time limit." Shadow replied.

"Really, how long do you have?"

"Until delivery."

Rouge's grin turned evil. She then whispered to Shadow. "So you not only have to lay Tails, you have to lay pregnant Tails?"

"That's it in a nutshell." Shadow replied.

Rouge resumed normal tone of voice. "Well, delivery is a bit too late. You'll have to do her before she goes into labour. Man, you really pissed Vanilla off to get that kind of punishment."

"So my words could have been a little better....wait, this is **me** we're talking about. Quite frankly, she should be grateful i was so polite." Shadow gritted his teeth.

"You're lucky she didn't kick your ass."

"Bah. What would you do in my situation?" He asked.

"Well, I wouldn't have problems giving it to preggo Tails."

"Neither would I, but it's not just about fucking her."

"So you have to get Tails to make love to you. Yeah, that would be quite the task... and while she's pregnant to boot? You really do have your work cut out for you?"

"I don't want to get attached." Shadow said, drinking his drink.

"Well, let's brainstorm about this and try to think of a way to scratch your itch."

Shadow finished the drink. "Try me." He said. The two then begin to storm up ideas.


	16. Chapter 16

Amy walked through Station square, dragging around a large suitcase and wearing a big camping bag. Clearly she'd been evicted from the park. She didn't know where she was going, or how long she'd be dragging everything she owned around for, but eventually found herself in the elevator, heading to Vanilla's house. After reaching the correct floor, she walked over to Vanilla's door, but instead of knocking, she dumped her stuff to the side and sat in the middle of it, where she curled up into a heap and silently cried.

After ten minutes, she stood and dusted herself off, wiped her face dry and returned to Vanilla's door, giving 4 raps. She waited patiently for someone to answer the door. Knuckles ended up answering the door.

"Amy, what's going on?" he asked.

"Oh, hey Knuckles. I'm surprised to see you answering Vanilla's door." She said. "And nothing's going on. I just came to pay Cream and Vanilla a visit, since I have nothing better to do."

"So the camping gear is nothing to do?"

"What do you expect me to do? Leave everything I own in the park for everyone to steal?" Amy questioned.

"Park? I don't follow, but tell me inside."

"Am I allowed to drag my things inside or is that wrong too?" Amy asked.

"I thought you didn't want people stealing your stuff..."

"I don't..." Amy replied. She then went to gather her things and dragged them into Vanilla's house, dumping them out of the way in a corner somewhere.

"Anyway, Cream's having a nap and Vanilla went to take a run, but feel free to kick it here and wait."

"Okay." Amy replied, she let out a sigh as she went and found a place to sit.

"After she wakes up, I plan on taking Cream to the gym so we can work out." Knuckles explained and passed Amy a glass of orange juice.

"Why would she want to do that?" Amy asked.

"You act like she can't bench press 200 lbs. From last I remembered, Cream was able to carry and toss you and Big like balls in mid-flight."

"Knuckles...there is a big difference in the questions **how** and **why**. I asked **why**." Amy explained, taking the OJ.

"Pumping a bit of iron relieves stress and tension. And being a little strong doesn't hurt either."

"Maybe for you, but I don't see that as something Cream would do to release stress and tension."

"Wanna come?"

"I don't think I need to release anymore tension, thanks..." Amy replied.  
"It couldn't hurt you to add a bit more muscle..."

"Trust me; I worked out my frustrations already." Amy replied.

"But are you stronger from it?"

"Maybe, I don't know. I do know that I am homeless from it."

"So you've been at the park this whole time?"

"I've been camping at the park since I got booted from my apartment. Just recently, police came and evicted me from the park, so I can't even stay there anymore." Amy said sadly.

Knuckles shook his head. "See, I wouldn't be like this if I were you."

"Well, what am I supposed to do? I have no home, and all I own are in those bags. I have nothing else." Amy said.

"Now if I were you, I would be staying with Big. Cream visits Big every so often and learned how to fish from him. Cream has learned a lot from you and Big, but I'm shocked that you wouldn't be staying with him." Amy simply sighs, but doesn't reply. "Hey, it's an option. I mean, Big roughs it every day by himself and he's really laidback. I'm sure he wouldn't turn your company away, it beats talking to frogs..."

"I don't...really want to live in the mystic ruins." Amy said.

"What's wrong with living in the Mystic Ruins?"

"It's just not a place I'd choose to live." Amy said.

"So you don't have a problem with living with Big or getting kicked out of parks?"

"You lost me. Big lives in the Mystic Ruins the last time I checked, and of course I don't like getting kicked out of the park."

"Just so you know, the Floating Island is part of the Mystic Ruins. And Tikal has no problems with it."

"It's not my kind of place, okay?" Amy almost yelled, but she held herself back.

"An old proverb, 'Homeless people can't be picky, because it will keep them from making proper choices.' You have to understand that you don't have a choice on where you live if you're homeless."

Amy just sighs and puts her glass down on the table coaster. "Just...Never mind. I'm going to leave now." She said, before standing and heading to her things, picking up the backpack to put it on.

"You really should come and pump iron with me."

"I'll pass." Amy said, before lugging her things to the door. As she opened it, Vanilla was stood, holding her key, clearly she was about to open the door to let herself in. "Oh, hello Vanilla..."

"We have to talk." said Vanilla.

"Um...sure." Amy said, backing into the room, before placing her things back in the corner.

"Follow me." said Vanilla as she walked to her room. Amy let out a small sigh as she followed Vanilla into her room.

Once the girls got into the room, Vanilla closed and locked the door. "Have a seat on the bed." Vanilla told Amy. Amy did as she was told and made herself comfortable on the side of the bed. She began twiddling her thumbs, but kept quiet. "Tikal told me some disturbing news about you wanting to kill yourself."

Amy lowered her head slightly. "Well...I've considered it, I'll admit..." She said.

"I want to hear everything about this sudden change of demeanour."

"You mean the reason I considered ending my own life?"

"Yes."

"It happened after you guys left and I destroyed my apartment. I was just so angry with myself that I took my hammer and swung it at anything I could find that was breakable...and broke it. After letting my rage get the better of me, I just collapsed in my room and sat there..." Amy explained. "After a while, Sonic came in. And that's when my world finally collapsed."

"How so?"

"The things he said, how he said them...That sort of thing." Amy cried a little bit. "I was so jealous of Tails because she was having a baby and it made me realise just how much I also wanted one." She cried. "I became desperate and begged Sonic to get me pregnant, but he just pushed me aside with his words and told me he didn't want to be with me, that there's no way he'd ever want to be with me now."

"I just might be able to assist with your request."

Amy looked up at Vanilla, with her tear stained face. "Huh?"

"I may be able to assist with that."

"How?"

"How, I know how to 'transfer pollen' so to speak."

"I'm confused."

"Perhaps I will show you instead." Amy titled her head in confusion.

Vanilla opened her drawer and shuffled around. Then she pulled out three vials full of liquid and showed them to Amy. "What do you think is in these?" she asked.

"I'm scared to ask..." Amy sweat dropped.

"What does it look like?"

"Vial's of fluid, how should I know?"

"Sperm, Amy... its sperm."

"Who's, may I ask?"

"Honestly, I don't remember which is which. However, one is Shadow's, one is Knuckles' and one is Sonics'."

Amy's eyes widened. "What the fuck?! How the hell did you manage that?"

"Sonic owed me one, so I had him jerk and skeet. But like I said, I forget which one is which of the three."

"No, seriously. How in the bloody depths of the master emerald did you get **Shadow's!**" Amy asked, still stunned.

"I have my ways."

"I want to know!"

"Can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"You don't want Shadow's sperm anyway. Despite everything else, Cream needs her sister and Tails shouldn't be stressed over your death during her pregnancy.

"But if you still want to die, just say so and I'll have you killed myself. But otherwise...."

"No, no. It was Shadow who convinced me out of that one. And despite the tempting offer, I think I'll pass on the baby thing." Amy said.

"Well, look at it like this... you have a job to do and you can't do it alive. Well you can, but not in a depressed state."

"I'm not going to kill myself. I just need to sort myself a place to live. 3 reasons why I don't want that sperm. 1: I am not in a stable place to raise a child, 2: You said you forget which is which; I don't want to be carrying Shadow's or Knuckles children. and 3, if ever came the time I'd have Sonics' baby...I'd want to conceive it with him, not behind his back which would force him to be with me only for the child's sake..."

"Point taken."

"Um...Vanilla...I know I am not in any right to ask this but...could I possibly...stay here until I sort myself out a place to live?" Amy asked, her voice going slightly squeaky as her nervousness to the question kicked in. "Please?"

"And what will keep you from going ballistic in my home?"

"Um...I could give you my hammer collection to start with. But other than that, only my word that I won't flip my lid like I did at my place." Amy replied.

"You're going to give me all of your hammers anyway. But you still have to give me a plausible answer."

"I don't really know what to say. I mean, I raged so much back at my own place that I just don't think I can conjure anymore. I don't know what else I can say except promise not to do it." Amy got off of the bed. "So, I guess I'll just collect my things and be on my way then."

"Go ahead and run, you'll be back after you get kicked out from other places."

"What else can I say or do that would bring confidence that I am at least stable enough to not destroy your house?"

"You'll think of something."

Amy sighed. "Well, it's not like I can run anyway." She said.

"So, how can I know that you won't go ballistic?"

"I went nuts because Tikal told me that I'd never have a chance at getting with Sonic. That Sonic would never go for me. And he proved her right when he forced the information into my head. Why would I go ballistic over news that I know is true. I haven't got anything left in me to bother raging for." Amy sighed again. "Home truths about Sonic will only make me cry now. I don't have a reason to get angry anymore."

"Fine, then you can play 'go for' for me."

"Huh?"

"You know... 'go for' this, 'go for' that..."

"Go on..."

"Scout work."

"Okay, I guess." Amy said.

"Good." said Vanilla. "Now let's get those hammers."

"You locked the door."

"Let's start with the one you currently have."

"It's with my things, I don't have it on me." Amy said.

"You really like roughing it, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're never separated from a hammer, now hand it over."

"Strip search me if you really feel it's necessary, but I don't have it." Amy replied.

"Fine...." and Vanilla put on a pair of black gloves. "Panties off and bend over the bed."

Amy sweat dropped. "Just where exactly do you think I _keep_ my hammers anyway?" She asked. "I honestly wish I were holding one now so I could hand it over, because you're scaring me."

"Don't make me have to repeat myself." Amy sighs and does as she's told. "And before you go bitching about this, keep in mind that the search was your idea." said Vanilla as she stood behind Amy.

"You go ahead and waste your time, Vanilla..." Amy sighed.

_I won't waste my time. You're never separated from a hammer... until you become my go for..._ Vanilla thought and started the search in the one place you wouldn't think about looking for a hammer and removed it from Amy's possession. "Found it."

"Wait, how the..." Amy questioned. "I didn't...oh fuck it, who am I kidding, as if you'd believe I didn't know that was there..."

"Well Amy, tampons aren't blue." said Vanilla and showed the object to Amy. With a squeeze, the tampon turned into a hammer. "Cream mentioned once that she heard you deal with this hammer after it came out once. I believe your exact words were, 'I forgot about this hammer, I really can't feel it all that much.' And I must admit that this hammer is cleverly guised and placed."

"I really must learn to remember that one..." Amy sighed.

"Now, aside from having this kind of hammer, let's leave and have you surrender every hammer you have. Including the Kron Hammer." and Vanilla unlocks and opens the door of her room.

And Amy leaves the room and heads to her things, she opens the bags and takes every hammer she can find and puts them aside for Vanilla, in the end, she gives up a grand total of 21 different hammers.

Vanilla examined the hammers and was shocked at them all. "So many hammers..." said Vanilla.  
"You even kept my giant hammer." said Knuckles.

"My hammers are but one of my favourite collections." Amy replied.

"So where is the range hammer?" asked Vanilla. Amy then thought for a moment, before burrowing back into her things.

"You know about the range hammer?" asked Knuckles.  
"Sonic told me about it."

"It's not in here...I think it's still at my apartment..." Amy said, after leaving her things.

"You'll have to get it somehow." said Vanilla.

"I'm not going back there..." Amy said.

"The point was to give me all of the hammers, you're one short. One short is not all of the hammers."

"I don't have it, so what's the problem?"

"We agreed that you would give me all of the hammers, not all but one."

"I'll get it later. I've been walking around lugging all of my belongings around, I don't want to walk for a bit." Amy said.

"Fare enough, but I will have that last hammer."

"And what about if my former landlord destroys it?"

"I'm sure you can get another hammer, break it, attach a length extender to it and hand it over." Vanilla then folded her arms. "I'm a shrewd businesswoman, but fair and firm." Amy doesn't reply, she just sighs a little and sits on the floor to rest her legs.

"Knuckles, what's next on your agenda?" asked Vanilla.  
"Going to the gym to lift weights." Knuckles answered. "I plan on taking Cream as well. I can spot her as she lifts weights."  
"Good. Take Amy with you when you and Cream go."

"Why would we...oh never mind..." Amy sighed.

"If you need workout gear for the gym, I can lend you that." offered Vanilla.  
"Or wear your riders threads like Cream does." said Knuckles.

"I'll use the Riders gear." Amy said, having given in.

"See, that isn't so bad. And you'll be stronger in the process." said Knuckles.

*

Tails, Marine and Blaze walked into Club Rouge and looked around. Shadow was in the corner couch, laid back and looked pretty relaxed, Rouge wasn't in sight however. After the girls walked over to Shadow, they realised he'd actually dosed off.  
"Aww, how cute. Like a baby." Tails teased.

"Needs a blankie." Joked Marine.

"Let's find something, tuck him in and give him a kiss good night." Tails giggled.

"You know, if he wakes up and hears what you're saying, he'll be angry." Blaze said.  
"What's he going to do? Beat me up?" Tails stuck her tongue out.

"Not in that sense." Marine answered.

"Well then, let's find out. I _dare_ you to give him that good night kiss." Blaze grinned.  
"Me or Marine?" Tails asked.  
"Either or both. Whoever has the guts."

"You first, Tails." said Marine.

Tails smiled, blushed and shrugged. "Okay." She said. She then quietly walked over to Shadow's frame and looked over him. _Wow, he sleeps quite peacefully considering his usual mood...It's quite cute. _Tails smiled, leaned over and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead. After about 4 seconds, she looks at him again.  
"Hmm...Was that a kiss good night, or a kiss good morning?" Shadow asked. Tails squeaked somewhat in terror, jumping at his sudden reaction and nearly fell backwards, but Marine was in time to support her. Tails covered her mouth with both hands, a blush from cheek to cheek.

_Oh my god...that was so embarrassing..._ She thought. Shadow sat up and looked at the three.

Marine and Blaze laughed. "That was funny." said Marine.

Shadow places both feet on the floor. "You should know I'm not a heavy sleeper." He said.  
"If you'll excuse me, I'll be in a dark corner somewhere." Tails said embarrassed before she headed to leave, but was stopped by a certain club owner.

"Stop all of that. It wasn't that bad." said Marine.

"You know, you should have more faith in yourself." said Rouge.

_I wonder if I should make the fox sweat..._ Shadow thought with a silent chuckle.

Tails relaxes a little. "It was still embarrassing." She said, turning to Marine. Shadow stood and walked over to Tails. He leans over a little, his face just millimetres away from hers.  
"It didn't seem so embarrassing when you were plotting it thinking I was sleeping." He said, he then gave her nose a gentle brush with his own. All of a sudden Tails' legs became jelly and she fell to her butt. "Not the reaction I expected, but still satisfying." Shadow grinned. He then walked off and took a seat at the bar, leaving Tails beat red on the floor.

"Even now, that girl still can't keep from falling somehow." said Rouge.

Blaze walked over to Tails and helped her to her feet. "That was slightly unexpected of you, Shadow." She said. "Not your character at all."  
"Sonic isn't the only one who can be full of surprises." Shadow counted. Rouge went behind the bar and Shadow off hand got her attention. She walked over and leaned over the bar, where he quietly spoke to her. "Personally, I thought you were nuts when you said Tails nose was incredibly sensitive, how did you know that anyway?" He asked.

"It's a funny kiss thing." Rouge answered.

Well, it was still amusing." Shadow replied.  
"What are you whispering about?" Blaze asked, bringing a still heavily embarrassed Tails over. Marine came over as well and leaped onto a chair.

"Just regular chit chat." Rouge answered. "I'll get a bottled water for everyone."

"Okay." Blaze said.  
"I'll be in the corner." Shadow said, walking off to his regular corner. Tails had finally cooled down a little now and watched Rouge get the drinks.  
"Um, Rouge." She said.

"Something wrong?" Rouge asked.

"Yes." Tails replied. "Um...I'm sorry I was seemingly ungrateful." She said, lowering her ears.

"Well, at least you figured out that we're doing this for the two of you. But none of that feeling useless crap."

"I know I probably have my uses and have to accept that I'm not able to be as helpful as I'd like to be. And I don't mind anymore." Tails smiled. "I guess I was just a bit upset that I wasn't allowed to do something which I thought wasn't that serious and how being pregnant would stop me and I wasn't thinking when I said about feeling like a burden. So, yes...I guess I was ungrateful." She explained. "No more though. I want the rest of my pregnancy to be a happy one, and...I'd like to share it with my friends. Even a certain sly hedgehog in the back."

"Well, that's good to hear." Rouge smiled. "But there's still one thing that has to be said about yourself."

"Oh?"

"That's right. Now say it loud...."

"Uuuhhmm...Only thing I can think of regarding saying it loud is I'm pregnant and proud." Tails replied.

"At least you didn't forget it." said Rouge.

"Of course not. Who would forget being forced to repeat that line with the view of several million people?"

"And in the proximity of a chosen few." in comes Honey. "So this is Club Rouge... Talk about your fixer upper..."  
"Well, the fixing is almost up." said Rouge.  
"That was a bad joke."  
"Sorry, I'm not a comedian."

"Good day, Honey. What brings you here?" Tails asked.

"What happened to that water, Rouge?" Blaze asked.

Rouge pulled out several bottles of water. "Sorry, got caught up in the mood." Rouge answered.  
"Such bad service." said Honey.  
"I'd like to see you say that when I am actually open."

"I was wondering if you'd let me help you out financially." Tails asked Rouge.

"Thanks for the idea, but you're gonna need your money." Rouge answered. "It may not seem like it now, but you'll find out later."

"I'm aware, but I could sell my Medi-bot plans to the government for a few K."

"GUN doesn't need more robot plans."

"Still, I will do so anyway. As you said, I could use the money." Tails said. "And I feel sorta responsible for the damages here."

"There you go feeling bad about things beyond your control again, luv." Marine said in a cautious sense.  
"The attack wasn't your fault, Tails." said Rouge. "Don't go back on your apology."

"I'm not. I just want to help." Tails replied. "Back to my previous question. What brings you here, Honey?"

"Just seeing how you are doing?" Honey answered. "You and that baby of yours. Speaking of which, any news on that kit?"

"Let's see. He's a she. She has my signature tails and you'll want to look at these." Tails said, as she goes through her bag for the sonogram pictures.

Honey takes a look at the sonogram pictures and holds back her tears. "I was right, you will have a beautiful baby." she said. "Congratulations on your bundle of joy."

Tails lowers her ears slightly. "You seem sad..." She replied. "Thanks though."

"No, it's just been a while since I've seen sonogram pics."

"When was the last time you saw some?" Tails asked, hoping to pry some information.

"A long while." and Honey got a hold of herself. "Well, I'll return here when you open. Hopefully I'm wrong about the service here."

"It can get rowdy in here. But you should try some of the weird named drinks." Tails smiled.

"Like what, Hollywood Genocide?"

"Ask Rouge, she knows the names."

"Never heard of Hollywood Genocide." said Rouge.  
"I never tried it, but saw someone who did." said Honey. "Poor guy was sent to the hospital from it."

"Well, Rouge has never hospitalised someone with a drink...at least I hope she hasn't." Tails sweat dropped.

"Not unless they drank too much." said Rouge. "I opted against selling that Godkiller Rum."

"I see." Tails replied.

"Well, I'm gonna go now. But know that I'm watching over you, fox girl." said Honey and began to leave.

Tails watched as Honey left, then turned to the rest of the girls. "Back in a mo..." And off she went after Honey. Tails caught up to Honey outside. "Honey, I have a question." She said, trying to get the cat's attention.

Honey stopped her walking. "Is something the matter?" she asked.

"I don't mean to pry. But I feel there's something more to you that you can't bring yourself to say. And the sonogram picture reaction really only makes me more curious." Tails said. "I hope I'm not prying into something painful."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that." and Honey gives the sonogram pics back to Tails. "Sorry, I almost left with them."

Tails took the pictures. "My bad for also forgetting. But, I hope you don't mind if I evade your attempt to dodge the point."

"What point?"

"Is there something you're not telling me. I'm okay if you said there was and you'll continue to refuse to tell me. But it feels like something is bothering you. Whatever it may be is certainly bothering me as well and a few of my other friends." Tails explained.

"Like what?"

"Let's think, how did Marine put it..." Tails thought for a moment. "I think it began with the Lamaze class know how. Let's just say she doesn't believe your story on how you know about them."

"All women should know about Lamaze." Honey said as she shrugged. "That's basic knowhow for the female species."

"Perhaps." Tails replied. "Well, I'll stop pushing." She said, putting the sonogram pictures away. "But, if you do have something you wanna get off your chest, you can always come to me, like I'm hoping I can do the same."

"Speaking of chests, how are those nursing bras working for you?"

"Wonders, like the rest of the stuff." Tails replied.

"That's good. Well, try not to overdo things you two."

Tails bowed. "We won't." She said with a smile. Honey walked off, leaving the fox to herself. _Tails, you really do have it good during your pregnancy._ She thought.

Tails walked back into the club. "Well, if she is hiding something, she's a hard nut to crack." She said.

"Everything good with you two?" asked Marine.

"Of course, I was just prying for information since what we discussed at Knothole." Tails replied.

"Okay, you two girls better start filling the rest of us in on things." said Rouge.

"Marine is the one with suspicion, so ask her." Tails replied.

"Just tell us already, both of you."

"Marine doesn't believe Honey's tale on how she knew in such detail about the Lamaze classes." Tails replied.

"Neither do I, but go on."

"Did you see her when I gave her the sonogram pictures. She looked like she was going to break down..."

"I did notice her body language." Marine said. "Perhaps someone in her family was pregnant..."

"Somehow, I have a feeling it's more connected to **her** as an individual."

"It could've been her mom, pregnant with a sibling." guessed Blaze.  
"You know, I never thought of that one." said Marine.

"I don't know..." Tails said. "I feel differently about it."

"I have heard that some sibling are excited about a brother or sister being born, then are devastated during a tragic event."

"Perhaps whatever it is, is none of your business and you should stop prying. If Honey wanted to tell you, don't you think she would have done it?" Shadow's voice came from the corner.

"You don't know that, Shadow. You aren't female." said Marine.

"It's because I'm not female that I can understand if people want to keep personal information to themselves. It's not like you all don't have your little secrets you don't want to tell people."

"Just like the secrets you keep from us?" asked Rouge.

"Exactly." Shadow grinned.

"So tell us about some of your most sensitive secrets. We won't laugh, we promise."

"You missed the point entirely."

"It can't be that bad." said Marine. "I know some of the koala guys back home only have one jewel in their goody bag."

"I have a full set, I'll have you know."

"See, thanks for sharing. Now what other secrets are you going to open up with?"

"Why don't you share some of your dark secrets?"

"Fine, I will." said Marine. "Before we got back, I had my first time. It was really good too and the two of us enjoyed ourselves... we even got worn out."

Tails then blushed furiously, before rubbing her face. "Excuse me a moment. I am going to the bathroom to do....anything..." And off she hurried to the girls toilets.

"Wow...now that was slightly uncalled for." Shadow lifted an eyebrow. "Anything else?"

"Wait a second...what? You didn't..." Blaze questioned Marine.

"Anything else? Are you vague, Shadow?" asked Rouge. "You just find out who she did it with."

"Your point being?" Shadow asked. "Well, I guess it's my turn. So I'll just make up something random to keep you 'supposedly entertained.' I have a thing for cats in pink underwear." He lied. _What about foxes in pink undies?_ thought Rouge.

Blaze then blushed. "Something tells me you're just trying to bug me."  
"And if I am?"  
"Grrr..."  
"What's the matter? Wearing tighty whities?"  
"How da-..."  
"Perhaps you don't wear anything at all..."  
"What business is it of yours?!" Blaze barked.  
"And here we are ladies. To the point I was trying to put across before." And Shadow stood up and walked over to them, staring at Blaze. "Thanks for proving my point. What underwear you're wearing is not my business, just like it's none of any of your business when it comes to anything Honey doesn't want to tell you." And he looked at Rouge. "Also, I know what you're thinking, so stop."  
"Oohh, Now I'm curious." Blaze grinned evilly.

"What, we just found out that Marine had sex with Tails." said Rouge.

"Yeah, and thanks to Marine who knows what state Tails is in right now. Well done, clever raccoon." Shadow somewhat scolded Marine. "If you'll excuse me. I'll return to my corner." And off he walks back to the corner. Blaze leans over to Rouge and whispers to her.  
"Is it me, or does he seem bothered by the fact Marine and Tails...you know..."

"He's bothered." Marine answered. "But don't tell Cream, she'll be pissed."

Tails came staggering out the bathroom, holding her head with one hand and using her other to lean on the wall. "I want to go home, I don't feel well..." She said.

"You all right?" asked Rouge.

"No, I've just been sick and I'm dizzy..."

"She stressed too much..." Blaze said.

"You weren't sick when we left." said Marine.

"Well, I just was and I want to go home..." Tails cried, falling to her knees.

The girls looked amongst themselves. "Shadow, do you think you can take Tails to Vanilla's place?" asked Rouge.

Shadow leaped up from the chairs. "I can manage that." He said walking over, but he walked over to Marine and leaned over to her ear. He whispered something to her and walked over to Tails, kneeling before her. "Tell me when you're ready and I'll carry you there." He said.

"What did he say to you Marine?" Blaze asked.  
"It....It doesn't matter, mate..." Marine replied, her tone was somewhat sad though.

The words played out in the back of her mind. _Don't feel bad for the way Tails is reacting, chances are that it's not out of regret or disgust, but you have to remember that despite the fact __**you**__ are happy to yell it out to the world, Tails has a lot on her plate without you adding things for her to stress over. Try to think of how __**she**__ feels before you open up things like that, understand?_

After 4 minutes of silence, Shadow picked up Tails holding her back in one arm and her legs in the other. She instinctively placed her head on his shoulder and held onto him to make sure she didn't fall backwards, not that she could in his grip. Shadow then went to leave the club. The remaining girls watched them leave.  
"Poor Tails..." Blaze said. "We were having such a nice little chat too."

"Well, I just hope things go well." said Rouge.  
"Yeah, she has Lamaze class later." said Marine.  
"Depending on how she feels, she may have to miss today's class. And try not to let things like that fly in the open."  
"As far as everyone is concerned, Tails should be doing girls. But fine, I will ask for her forgiveness later."

"Why should she? Quite frankly in her condition she shouldn't be **doing anyone**." Blaze replied.

"Everyone needs lovin' including you. And you're one to talk, Blaze. Especially since one of your pornos have preggers in them."  
Rouge was shocked. "Pregnant porn... Blaze, you really have some odd fetishes." she said.

Blaze then blushed bright red. "I have no such thing!!!!" She barked at Marine. "And you shouldn't talk!" Blaze barked at Rouge. "I know all about that**milking** incident."

"Hey, that was for study." said Rouge. "Besides, at least I know her breast milk has chaos energy in it."

"That's not the point!" Blaze growled. "Grrr! Why do I bother? I'm gonna go to a bar, one which serves some **strong** stuff..." And out Blaze stormed.

"Hey, I serve strong drinks." said Rouge. But it was too late, Blaze was gone.

*

Shadow was walking down the streets holding Tails. It had been quiet for some time and the two were getting a lot of strange looks and comments, to which Shadow ignored.  
"What's happening over there?"  
"Isn't that Miley Inari? She looks sick, I hope she's okay."  
"Wow, from this angle they look like a cute little couple." Were some of the comments that shot around the streets. Shadow didn't realise, but his hand that was holding onto Tails shoulder, he was using his thumb to gently stroke her in a soothing manner. He was getting slightly frustrated at the comments, but didn't show it and continued to ignore.

After another 6-7 minutes, Shadow shifted Tails ever so slightly, trying to keep her as comfortable as he could. He looked at her face, she had her eyes closed at this time, and seemed pretty snug. He looked around, trying to figure out his location, then turned the next corner, where the streets seemed emptier, only 1 or 2 people on the sidewalks, and very few cars drove past.

"You're not going to fall asleep in my arms, are you?" He asked her, in his calm tone. He however didn't expect a reply.

"So... faint.." was all Tails said.

"Do you want some water or something?" There was no response from Tails, she simply buried her face in Shadow's chest. Shadow couldn't help but get a little flustered. _What the...._ He thought. _What's with this reaction?_ He shook it off mentally. He lifted his hand from Tails shoulder, though still holding her with his arm, and stroked her head a little. "How silly of you to get so worked up. Marine was an idiot to do that, but look at the state your in." He said. A moan came from Tails and nothing more. "It'll take another 15 minutes to get to Vanilla's by walking, make a sign or something if you want to stop somewhere." Shadow continued. Again, moans left Tails, but nothing more as she buried her face in Shadow's chest. "I'll just stop talking..." Shadow said.

Shadow continued to walk on, more views, more looks and more annoyance coming his way, but, like the respectable ass that he makes out to be, he simply ignored the whole lot of them. After having to stop and press a button on a crossing and wait before the traffic stopped and he could cross. He continued walking and something began to eat at him in the back of his mind, all the previous conversations that were either directed at him or indirected at him, or some he simply overheard involving feelings for Tails and generally anything else to do with Tails began to haunt him. _Bah...shake off these thoughts, Shadow. Getting attached will only bring her harm..._ He thought to himself. _She is kinda cute though....Damn it Shadow! Stop being such an idiot. As if you're good enough anyway..._ Shadow was getting flustered again. _The position she's currently in isn't helping either, but hell, she's not well so who am I to complain._

"Tails, feeling any better yet? I can stop if the walking isn't making you feel any better? Do you want to rest for a bit?" Shadow asked the fox.

"Thirsty...." Tails managed to say.

"That's it then, we're stopping for a drink." And Shadow diverted away towards a few of the shops. He'd located a small cafe. He took Tails inside and got strange looks, but again, ignored them. He took Tails over to a table in the corner and sat her down in one of the chairs. "I'll get you a drink, anything you want in particular?" He asked.

"Juice." Tails answered.

"Flavour?"

"Tomato... and apple as a backup choice."

"Sure." And Shadow goes up to the counter, however, every few seconds he keeps looking over his shoulder to check on Tails. After he made sure she was okay, he made the order and got the juice. He walked over and sat in the chair next to Tails and placed the glasses on the table. "There." He said. Tails had her drink, but gave no response. "Feeling any better?"

"Somewhat." Tails finally answers after finishing the juice.

"Good." Shadow replied. "Tell me when you want to continue on and we'll leave."

"Shadow, what really goes on in that head of yours?"

"What do you mean?"

"You seem to act like you don't give a damn, yet you're.... showing compassion."

Shadow paused for a long while, but finally replied. "Is it wrong for me to care?" He asked.

"Not at all, I actually feel better that you care."

"Then why question it?"

"To make you aware of it."

"I don't **want** to care." Shadow said. "I tried to lock my emotions away. As far as I'm concerned when I show compassion, someone gets hurt. So I try not to." Shadow folded his arms and leant back in his chair.

"Oh...." and Tails drooped her ears. "So you really don't want to help me then?"

"I do for some reasons, and don't for others." Shadow replied. "I'll keep my reasons for wanting to help you to myself. As for why I don't, that's because I don't want you to get hurt because of me." Shadow cleared his throat a bit. "Think of it like this. I want to help you to the best of my ability. But I just worry you'll be hurt because of me."

Tails shook her head. "You truly are stubborn."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Well, what do you expect when the only one you truly cared about is slaughtered before your eyes, moments before you're launched into the depths of space, powerless to do anything?" Shadow asked. "I cared for Maria, and because I cared, she was punished for that."

"You're full of it." Shadow remained quiet. After a moment, Shadow lost himself in thought, and then sighed.  
"Alright, you want me to be the most honest I can?" He asked.

"Just say you love me and quit being difficult."

"But, that's so out of my character." Shadow grinned. "Besides, if I said that, you'd laugh."

"You know, never mind... I'll go to Vanilla's myself."

Shadow opened his mouth to say something, but paused. After a few moments, however he spoke again. "Okay, look. I'm sorry." He said. "I've been trying to simply convince myself that I wasn't having any sort of feelings for you at all. But ever since that night when I took you out for a run in that wheelchair, you just been in my head constantly and every waking thought is of you." Shadow explained. "I'll throw away my cocky pride and admit what I was trying to ignore." Shadow breathed in ever so slightly. "I do...love you, Tails..." He said.

"Somehow, I don't believe you." said Tails as she walked down the street.

Shadow then sighed and warped in front of her. "I didn't think you would." He said. "How would I make you believe me then?" Tails didn't answer, she just continued to walk down the street en route to Vanilla's house. "Please stop..." Shadow near enough sounded like he was pleading.

"Tell that to someone who you might actually care about. Humph!" and Tails continued walking down the street.

_Damn it! You forced my hand..._ Shadow thought. _There's no way I'm going to confess like that and have you leave me in humiliation..._ He walked after Tails, his pace slightly faster than hers and when he reached her, he took her by the shoulders, not roughly, but enough so that he could turn her around, took her by the cheek and lip locked her without a second thought. _Go ahead and slap me for this if you must, but it's worth it..._ He thought.

Tails had a shocked expression on her face. "You... you kissed me..." she said.

"If you still don't believe me, Tails. Then I'll take you to Vanilla's place and I'll never bother you again, if that is what you wish." Shadow replied. "But I'm telling the truth. I love you." Shadow looked Tails in the eyes.

"Uh.... can we hold hands?"

Shadow blushed, he was quite shocked himself. But then smiled. "Sure, why not?" He said, offering a hand.

Tails took Shadow's hand and the two began to talk off. "You know what... this isn't so bad." said the fox.

"Indeed...Kinda makes me feel stupid I didn't say anything earlier." Shadow chuckled.

"You know, it may be just because of a brother/sister thing, but at least you finally said it. Also, I do owe you one."

"Really?" Shadow questioned.

"If there's anything you may need from me, just say so..." Tails said with a blush... "Even if it means giving you some of my breast milk."

_I could mention the whole Vanilla test thing. But...nah. Like she said, i'll earn my way to it. And not for the Chaos Emerald. That's not important anymore. I'll earn my way because I __**want**__ to. _Shadow thought. "If anything comes to mind, I'll mention it." He said. "Until then, I'll just receive what you want to give when you want to give." Shadow replied. "And don't take that like I'm being selfish, the same goes for you as well." He smiled before giving Tails' nose a gentle brush with his index finger on his free hand.

Tails giggled. "I guess that means you want something special from me then?"

"Maybe, but I'll earn it, not ask for it." Shadow replied.

"You know, now that I think of it, my breast milk probably wouldn't bother you."

"In what sense?"

"Nothing, it's nothing."

"Hm...Okay, if you say so." Shadow said. "So, do you still want to go to Vanilla's house?" he asked.

"Sure, we don't wanna worry Rouge and the girls."

"Naturally." So the two, hand in hand, walk off toward Vanilla's place. However, Shadow stops for a moment and Tails looks at him. "I just thought to myself. Once your daughter is born, one day she's going to ask the same question all children ask when they are missing a parent..."

"Go on." said Tails.

"What would you tell her, if she asked about her father?"

"Not sure... Parthenogenesis I guess."

"I see." Shadow said. "Well, if it makes it any easier on you. Just tell her that I'm her father. I don't mind filling in that position if it's needed of me."

Tails didn't answer, but nodded and smiled. _That's... oh well..._ she thought. And the two continue on to Vanilla's place.


	17. Chapter 17

Tails and Shadow had arrived in the elevator, heading up to Vanilla's place. The trip seemed longer and it was the two alone. As the two waited, Shadow got bored and moved behind Tails, he wrapped his arms around her, one around her shoulders and the other on her bump, hugging her. He gave her a kiss on the neck, and then released her a little.

"Saying hello, or are you happy to see me?" asked Tails.

"Both." Shadow replied. The elevator reached its stop and opened. "And here we are." He said.

"You do the honours." Tails said.

Shadow took Tails by the hand and walked over to Vanilla's door. Looking down the hall either side, he turned to Tails, took her by the cheek and kissed her again. He broke away shortly afterwards. "Sorry, couldn't resist." He grinned. He then lifted his hand to knock on Vanilla's door.

"Aren't you friendly..." said Tails.

"Let's just say I have a new grown confidence. One I plan to exploit, if that's okay by you." Shadow said, as he knocked and waited.

Vanilla answered the door. "This is unexpected." she said. "What's going on?"

"There was a little incident at Rouge's club. i was told to bring Tails here after she didn't feel so well. She seemed to recover on the way though." Shadow replied.

"I see." said Vanilla. "You look happy, Shadow."

"Maybe I am." Shadow replied. "Is that wrong?"

"No, not at all."

Shadow looks at Tails. "Shall I leave you here?" He asked.

"I'll be fine, thanks." Tails said with a smile.

Shadow nodded. He leaned over and brushed his nose with Tails again, before he warped away.

"That was...peculiar. What was that about?" Vanilla asked.

"Shadow finally came clean." Tails answered. "He's affectionate now."

"Somehow I don't believe you..." Vanilla replied. "Anyway, you should come in and I'll fetch some drinks." She said. "Then you can tell me all about it."

"Okay."

So, Vanilla let Tails in and headed to the Kitchen to get the refreshments. "Anything you'd like in particular Tails?" Vanilla asked.

"Juice."

"We're out of OJ, we have Apple, BC or....no wait, that's all we have..."

"Apple works."

And Vanilla fetched the drinks. "Under ice or plain?"

"Icy... four cubes."

And with the addition of four cubes, Vanilla took the drinks into the other room, placing them on cup holsters. "So, what happened at Club Rouge? I've not known Shadow to chauffeur before."

"Well Marine, Blaze and I went to Club Rouge and I apologized for being ungrateful. Then Honey came by to see what was up and I showed her the sonogram pics of my daughter and she congratulated me. Though she felt bad."

"Oh? I wonder why." Vanilla said.

"Not sure, she didn't say."

"Well, everyone has a little secret they might not like to share. And by secret, I mean anything that they don't wish to share. Perhaps a hurtful memory." Vanilla explained. "I wouldn't push it on her. Go on."

"I got sick and Shadow was on his way to take me here. We fell out at first, and then he kisses me and says that he loves me."

Vanilla sweat drops on the back of her head. _So he finally out and said it..._ "I see. And how do you feel about that?" Vanilla asked.

"I... I don't know. I'm still shocked from hearing it. I mean, sure I said he should come out with it... but the kiss and his choice of taking responsibility takes me aback."

"Taking responsibility? What for?" Vanilla questioned.

"He said that he would be Lavender's father."

"You know, this sounds like a 'Shadow fan-girls' Fantasy fanfic found on the internet." Vanilla said. "Too good to be true."

"I owe him a favour too."

"For saving you?" Vanilla asked.

"Well... yes, for being there. How do you repay that sort of thing?"

"So, because he's been there for you, you feel you owe him?" Vanilla asked. "Doesn't that make you owe everyone in a sense?"

"Perhaps I should do something really nice for him. I mean, everyone else has done so much and..."

"Tails." Vanilla interrupted. "Have you ever considered that just knowing you and your baby are safe is all we need in return for being there for you? The own satisfaction that you're alive and happy is all we need."

"I see."

Vanilla then smiled coyly. "But, if you insist on doing something nice for Shadow, then that's up to you. But tell me, what do _you_ think you should do?"

"Not sure..."

"Well, I must ask an odd favour of you."

"Go ahead."

"Don't repay him through sexual service." Vanilla said.

"You mean no teasing with the Magic Naked Apron?"

"Not exactly. Let's put it like this. If he said that to repay him, and asked for head, or even sex. Don't do it, unless you deep down really want to." Vanilla explained. "But go ahead and tease him. It'd be funny to see him sweat."

"Give head to.... Shadow...."

Vanilla takes her own drink and sips from it. "Yes." She said.

"I guess so."

"Do you want to?"

"I'm not sure..."

"Well, until you are sure, don't accept it as a way to repay him." Vanilla said.

"Okay then."

"Anyway. You're free to do anything else to repay him. Even if that means teasing him with kinky outfits."

"I see. By the way, How is Cream doing as of late?"

"That leads to my next request. And it might seem harsh. But I'm giving you only one of 2 choices." Vanilla said. "Cream has been very upset as of late and she's said some worrying things. So, I want you, Tails, to either resolve things with Cream, or stay apart from her for a while."

It was at that moment where Tails heard Marine's words from before they left from Knothole. She snapped back into reality and addressed Vanilla. "I know how to resolve things with Cream, but it all depends on you letting me." the fox told Vanilla.

"Like I said, Tails. Resolve things with Cream, or keep away for a little while. The choice is yours." Vanilla said, before finishing her drink.

"Then tell me where I can... no, I'll just wait here until I get the chance to resolve our issues."

"I'll be sure you get your alone time." Vanilla said. "Just promise me you won't let her do anything bad to herself, please?"

"You have my word. Well, I wanna lay down here on the couch if you don't mind."

"Would a bed be more comfortable? That room you were using before is still available to you."

"Okay, that will work."

"It's all made up with fresh sheets, so don't worry about changing them." Vanilla said. "You know where I am if you need anything."

"Thanks a lot, Vanilla." and Tails went back to her room.

_I hope you can resolve things with Cream, Tails. It's upsetting to think I might need to keep you away, for the sake of my own daughters safety._ Vanilla thought, before heading off to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Knuckles was enjoying the workout at the gym and he was currently spotting Cream as she bench pressed 150 lbs. Amy on the other hand was attempting weights far beyond her strength capability. She had managed to lift it above her head but had to put it down with a crash.

"Ouch..." She uttered as she rubbed her arms.

"Lift within your limit, Amy." Knuckles said.

"I'll lift what I please." Amy replied. "But I'm taking a break. Anyone want a drink?"

"I'm fine." Knuckles answered.  
"Not thirsty yet." Cream answered. "Knuckles, could I get five more pounds on each side?"  
"Right, sit up for a moment."

So Amy left to get something to drink. After 10 minutes, she was heading back only to see a certain someone she didn't want to. _Great...If Knuckles sees him, I hope he doesn't flip..._ She thought. She returned to the other two. "You'll never guess who's here working out." She told the two.

"Wave the Swallow?" guessed Cream.  
"Billy Hatcher?" guessed Knuckles.

"Cream was closer than you Knuckles." Amy said, sipping her drink. "It's that Albatross we all know and 'love.'"

"Tch... He shows up every now and again." said Knuckles.

"I hope you never get into any fights or anything."

"We may have 'Gear Wars' going on, but the gym is for everyone to build up some muscle."

"So, what are the plans after we've finished here?" Amy asked.

"You have yet to lift anything without almost hurting yourself." said Knuckles.

"Don't think you can limit me to staying here until I lift something of an ideal weight." Amy retorted.

"Cream's benching 160 pounds, but you can't even lift 40?" Amy didn't reply.

"Lift a little bit of metal, Amy." said Cream.

"My legs are stronger than my arms anyway. Sure, you're stronger than me thanks to keeping both me and Big in the air, but he was still hanging onto my legs you know." Amy replied. "Besides...I'm not in the mood." And she walks off and takes a seat somewhere.

"They have a machine where you can use your legs to push iron, don't they?" asked Cream.  
"Yeah, but let her stay as she is." Knuckles answered.  
"Could you get this please?"  
"No problem."  
Knuckles lifts the dumbbell with his arms and allows Cream to sit up.

It was at this point a familiar voice was heard. "Yo! Knuckles! How've ya been?!" It was Vector. "You know, we should really go out and hit the city tonight, what'dya say?" He asked, giving his friend a gentle nudge.

"Pass, I got a gig tonight." Knuckles answered.

"Aww, that sucks." Vector said. "Well, what about tomorrow?"

"Workin. Speaking of work, how's the CDA?"

"Bad. With no clients, we're gonna go outta business." Vector replied. "We ain't had nothin' from no one. People just seem to live peaceful lives."

"That's too bad."

"Yeah, if only someone would hire us, we'd be set for at least another 2 months. But, that's life. All we can do is sit back and pray."

"What a shame."

"Well, gotta run. I gotta get the club some grub." And Vector let out a laugh. "See ya later. Oh and miss, that's some mighty impressive strength you got there for your size. Keep it up and maybe you'll be able to beat me in an arm wrestle one day." He said to Cream.

"Eh... you aren't the real muscle of the Chaotix anyway. But thanks." said Cream.

"I may not be the strongest, but still." And Vector flexes. "Catch ya later." and off he leaves.

Amy walks back over. "How long are you two going to stay here?" She asked.

"Need I remind you that you're here because of Vanilla?" Knuckles questioned Amy.

"Is it so wrong to ask a question?" Amy asked.

"Vanilla has filled me in on both of you girls wanting to kill yourselves, so it's my job to take your minds off of that sort of thing."

Cream and Amy both look at each other. "You wanted to kill yourself?" They asked simultaneously.

"Now, let's get the pads and gear on you both. You two are going into the ring." said Knuckles. The girls shrugged and did as they were told.

_Those two should be able to relieve their problems in ring with each other._ thought Knuckles. _This isn't going to be the first time those two did something like this together._ "Okay ladies, this is just a good sisterly spar." Knuckles reminded the girls. "No kicking, no grabbing ears or hair, no spitting, no flying and keep the blows above the belt. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Amy said.

"No problems here." Cream answered.  
"Good." Knuckles answered. "Touch gloves and get into your corners."

*

Shadow walked through the town. He was 'window shopping' it seemed. _I wonder what Tails would like. I also wonder who'd be a good person to ask..._ He then saw a chilidog stand. _Aha, as if that'll be around without Sonic. I should probably leave before he appe-.._

"Looking for good wares, Shadow?" Sonic zipped up out of the blue.

_Son of a..._ Shadow thought. "No, actually." He replied.

"So what's up?"

"Hm... I'm just passing time." Shadow lied.

"Looks like you're window shopping."

"And what if I am?"

"There is a baby on the way."

"Alright, you caught me red handed." Shadow said, shrugging.

"Well, what's up?"

"Unlike everyone else who probably plans to get the kid something, I think I'd prefer to get something for Tails instead. Only one problem." Shadow said. "I don't really know what Tails likes, other than machine parts and right now I highly doubt she'd be fond of a tool set." Shadow said. "Not to mention I think Cream already got her Chrome tools a while back."

"Well, get something that'll help improve logic."

"Like what?"

"Thinking games."

"Hmmm..." Shadow thought. "Fare enough." _That won't do..._ He thought. _Talking to Sonic about this probably wouldn't be wise._

"Hey, I figured that I would make a gift for our mom-to-be. But at least it will be something from the heart." Sonic said confidently.

"Hmm...." Shadow thought for a moment. "I see."

"Remember, it's the thought that counts when it comes for gifts."

"As you know, Sonic. I'm not usually one for gifts. But your advice is appreciated."

"Get her some lingerie then."

"Yes, because that won't look weird at all." Shadow narrowed his eyes. "I can see it now! 'I am the ultimate life form! Saviour of the human race. Now, give me some panties.'" Shadow mocked.

"Tidy white, candy apple red, or tickle me pink?" joked Sonic.

"Midnight black." Shadow said. "Anyway, I have a question for you, Sonic."

"She doesn't like black panties... but ask away?"

"Thanks for that, I'll keep it in mind. Anyway, how are you dealing with everything thus far involving Tails?"

"Well, it was very hard to endure at first. Then I realized how much I love Tails. I often tell Tails that because it's not only true, but it's the job of the big bro to look after the younger one."

"At least I'm not the only one on that." Shadow uttered. "Well, at some point, I'm going to see if she wants to have a fun day out. See you later, blue hedgehog." And Shadow began to walk off.

"See ya, Shadow." and Sonic saw Shadow go away.

Shadow warped onto Angel Island, looking around. "I know that they live in some hut somewhere..." He said. "Well, time to seek them out." And he began walking through Angel Island. _I wonder. Should I check the outside shrine of the Master Emerald..._ He thought. _Why not?_ And he warped to the master emerald shrine. _Well, one of them is still about, the M.E is in its pedestal. But I don't see that red echidna anywhere._ He thought.

"This is a first; you never came to visit before." Tikal's voice was heard.

"I thought I'd take up that offer for head." Shadow joked, looking around.

"Need to relax I see..."

"Not really. I'm perfectly happy at the moment. But that same day, you said you'd help out."

"I did give you a pointer."

"One pointer is all I get?" Shadow asked.

"No, you'll get others."

"So, where are you? Talking to air is pretty lame." Shadow asked, still looking about.

"I guess you're ready to jet out then..."

"What do you mean?"

"Perhaps I should use better slang for orgasm... Sorry about that."

"Perhaps you shouldn't use slang at all. Either way, I'll 'jet out' when I've earned that much." Shadow said. "And I intend to earn it from Tails."

"So, ready for your head?"

"Stop hiding already."

"Touch the Master Emerald, and come to my home." Shadow shrugged and walked up to the master emerald. He placed his hand on it.

A glow emanated from the Master Emerald and in a flash of light... he was gone. After the light dispersed, Shadow found himself in the old Mystic Ruins.

"So this is the Ancient Ruins of past." He said. "Interesting."

"Yes, it's beautiful, huh?" Tikal's voice is heard.

"I guess." Shadow said. "Nothing to complain about, I'll give you that."

"Nope." and Tikal appeared suddenly next to Shadow. "This is a tranquil place."

Shadow looked at Tikal. "So, how's your head?" Shadow asked.

"My head is fine, what about yours?" Tikal said and stuck out her tongue.

"I wasn't the one who got smashed with a hammer. Not that it'd make a difference to my skull, I'm too strong for that." Shadow said.

"I see. So allow me to show you around."

"Of course. Oh, and for your information. I skipped your pointer and went a little ahead. I think I have Tails attention now." Shadow said.

"So what's the problem now?"

"I need to know how to progress further. Something tells me that simply kissing Tails isn't going to get me all that far."

"Well, have you embraced her yet?"

"In what sense?"

"Like holding in the arms."

"Does hugging her in an elevator count?"

"How did you hug her?"

"Show me around, and I'll tell you everything that happened." Shadow said.

So the two walked off and Shadow explained to Tikal in detail about what had happened from the club, to carrying Tails to the cafe, to the fight, to kissing her to prove his affection up to leaving her at Vanilla's door.

"Well, you definitely did a lot." said Tikal.

"Tails made me realise that trying to ignore feelings like that is pointless and that I should just open up. It sucked that I chose my wording wrong, but it worked out in the end." Shadow said. "However, not sure how to approach the situation with some of her friends. You're different since we already had a long chat, and telling Rouge won't be a problem either. The rest however..." Shadow shook it off. "That's not the point. Anyway, that's all there is to it in terms of what happened."

"So what's next on your 'Getting the Foxlove' plan?"

"This is when I went back to your pointer. I don't know what Tails likes except machinery and bits and pieces. I had a look around only to be bothered by that irritating blue hedgehog. He gave me some nice advice though, I'll give him that." Shadow said. "I've never been on a date before. Perhaps that should be my next step. Seeing if Tails would just generally like to hang out. She must be getting tired of the same company at some point. Or am I the only one who does that?"

"Well, perhaps you should ask Cream as far as Tails dates go." said Tikal. "Cream is the only one to go out with Tails, so she's your 'go-to' on the subject. Ask Cream about her dates with Tails and learn from them.

"Other than that, there's always Twinkle Park. Everyone enjoys Twinkle Park... including me."

"Is asking Cream really that wise?" Shadow asked. "Last I know she and Tails were on bad terms."

"Then take Tails to Twinkle Park. I'm sure you can enjoy throwing balls at the cans, popping balloons with darts, taking the hammer and attempting to ring the bell and other things that don't involve the rides. Share a chilidog for a romantic effect and even enjoy a sunset or two."

"Hm...I might just do that. It gives Tails a chance to unwind and I get some quality time." He said. "So, where's Chaos then? Isn't he also around her somewhere? I'm surprised he hasn't attacked me thinking I'm some kind of intruder."

"Chaos is at the shrine of the Master Emerald."

"I see." Shadow replied. "I have a question. Do you have a particular love interest?"

"Well, that doesn't really matter at the moment." Tikal answered.

"No, but everyone else likes to pry into my secrets and things I don't feel matter, so I thought I'd try." Shadow grinned.

"Here's the deal. I have to lay an egg, but I'm not ready for that sort of thing."

"A crush or relationship doesn't mean children have to come 'immediately'." Shadow replied.

"True, but I guess I want to see how things work with Tails before I decide to be an egg Hatcher."

"I see you missed the meaning of my words. No matter." Shadow adjusted his gloves slightly. "Let's just hope when it comes to it, Billy Hatcher doesn't come and steal your egg." He teased.

"After the incident between him and Silver, I'm sure Rolly is raping that cock whenever she has the chance." and Tikal stuck her tongue out again.

Shadow laughed. "Yeah, true. Well, enough of speaking about the lesser creatures of the planet. I think I should leave now...unless you have other things you want to keep me in here for."

"So you don't want your head anymore I see..."

"If I get head, it'll come in time." Shadow said. "If I get shot down, I'll come visit." He grinned.

"Fine. So have you seen The Wizard of Oz?"

"You make it sound like I'd have something to watch anything on..."

"Fine... close your eyes." Shadow does so.

"Now click your heels three times."

Shadow opens his eyes. "Yeah, not happening." He said.

"Fine, stay here. You can always talk to the Chao."

"I don't know whether or not I hate you."

"Fine, go over there and think about home." Shadow wonders off over to where she said to go.

"Well, now think happy thoughts, like butterflies fluttering over a calm field."

"A happy thought, eh?" Shadow pondered. "I'll just reminiscence on an earlier little event."

"Now start singing 'A Merry Merry Unbirthday' from Alice and Wonderland."

Shadow growled. "Stop mocking me!" He yelled at her.

"Just close your eyes and picture somewhere you would rather be right now."

"I'd rather be in station square, in the same time period in which I was before I came into the master emerald." Shadow stated.

"Sorry, I can't turn back time." said Tikal. "Now concentrate." Shadow, still slightly peeved at Tikal, does so. "I'm a peaceful and happy person, so happy thoughts to go home is a must."

"Well you shouldn't have pissed me off with stupid jokes..." Shadow then relaxes and goes back to that moment he recalls being the happiest in a long while. After he kissed Tails.

"If you would've just clicked your heels and followed initial instruction, you'd be out of here already. And make sure you fake losing at those carnival games for Tails' sake."

_Just let me leave this fuckin' place already...._ Shadow thought. "Hm, fine by me." He said.

"Do you have your happy thought?"

"Yes, I've had it for some time." Shadow replied calmly.

"Now using your thoughts, count backwards from ten, and then open your eyes." Shadow does just that, keeping it all mentally done. He opens his eyes at the exact amount of time Tikal told him to.

He was back outside of the Master Emerald shrine. _Note to self, never go there again for any reason, lest I kill that echidna..._ He thought, before he warped off to Station Square.

*

It took a while, but Amy and Cream managed to wear each other out with their fists. Knuckles passed each girl a Propel and the three had a seat.

"Gah...what is it about us that we can't seem to find a deciding winner..." Amy asked, exhausted. "We're almost as bad as Sonic and Shadow in that sense."

"The point was to wear each other out." said Knuckles.

"Well congrats...it worked. I'm knackered." Amy laughed.

"So where are we going from here?" asked Cream.  
"Not sure, perhaps into the Mystic Ruins." said Knuckles.

"Oh, what's happening about Tails' workshop, by the way?" Amy asked.

"Still looking for clues."

"I meant repair wise." Amy replied. "Surely we should probably get it rebuilt. Tails'll need a place to live after birth. I don't know if she plans to live with someone else or something but...you see where I am coming from, right?"

"Point taken, but it's best left wrecked."

"How come?"

"Eggman may come back and search the place."

"I didn't think of that..."

"I did." said Cream. "And it makes a lot of sense."

"Then, what does Tails plan to do after giving birth?"

"No one knows." Knuckles answered.

"Well, at least she has options."

"Yup."

"Should we go now?" asked Cream.

"Isn't that up to Knuckles?" Amy asked.

"Let's just go shower, we need to clean up." said Knuckles.

"I can do with a good shower, but don't think of peeking Knuckles. I know about that small gap in the wall between the girls and boys shower rooms." Amy warned. "Unless we plan to shower somewhere else. Then it's fine."

"Lockers are co-ed." said Knuckles. "Now get drenched."

"Well, there's still a gap in the wall..." Amy then pouted. "And if they are shared, then I'm not using them. I don't want to be perved."

"Just go hit the showers." said Knuckles.

And Amy and Cream walk off to hit the showers. _What happened in my life to make it just go bust..._ Amy thought. _I must have done something horrible in a past life to get this..._

"Amy, you really need to switch to decaf." said Cream.

"Huh?"

"Fine, no more coffee for you. Just drink tea."

"What's wrong with coffee?"

"Too much caffeine makes you wig out."

"Too little means I can't keep up with Sonic...then again, I guess I don't need to." Amy lowered her head a little.

"Let's just have our shower." said Cream.

"Okay." Amy said.

After 3 minutes, the girls got into the shower and washed the sweat away.  
"So, I don't mean to touch on a horrible topic, Cream...but why do you want to end your life?" Amy asked.

"Let's just say I've been doing bad."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"I started going on a killing spree with a knife. Nothing matters except for stabbing everyone close to me with a knife."

"If you don't want to talk about it, just say so. You don't have to make something up..." Amy replied.

"I knew you'd say that... that's why things are bad for me right now."

"Well, I know you haven't gone on a killing spree Cream, otherwise you'd be in an institute for twisted children." Amy said. "So, perhaps you can explain it better?"

"I killed Tails using a knife, okay?"

"You're not making sense, Cream..." Amy sighed. "I'll just drop the topic..." And she continued to shower in silence.

"So what's with all of the stuff in a pile?"

"Huh?" Amy questioned. "You mean back at your place?"

"Yeah. That wasn't Knuckles' stuff, or mine to be exact."

"It's all my stuff. It's everything I have that I either didn't or couldn't break." Amy said.

"I see."

"It's a long story." Amy said, as she turned the water off on her shower. "I don't have a place to live. So I asked Vanilla if I could stay with you two until I sort myself out..."

"Then what?" and Cream turned off the shower head.

"Well, I had to hand over every hammer I own to Vanilla and will be a 'go get' girl or something."

"It's a 'go for', Amy. At least you'll be paid for your services."

"Well, whatever it is. I'm currently at Vanilla's mercy."

"More like her employee."

"Okay." Amy said. "Anyway, I'm done." And Amy took a towel to dry herself.

Cream wrings her ears out. "See you in the locker." And Amy wraps herself and leaves. After 10 minutes, the girls are washed and dressed, feeling refreshed.

"I feel like 6 bucks." Amy called and stretched.

"Well, let's go meet up with Knuckles." said Cream.

"Sure thing." And the girls leave and find Knuckles. "We're back." Amy said.

Took you long enough." said Knuckles. "Let's get moving, I have to go and grab people."

"Oh? Like who?"

"KM."

"That is?"

"My younger brother. Every now and again, I grab him and have a bit of brotherly time."

"How cute." Amy smiled. "Anyway, let's go."

"Indeed. I'll be taking you to the Mystic Ruins and we'll meet up with Tikal."

"Okay." So the trio leave and head for the train station.

*

Meanwhile, back at Vanilla's place. It had been a few hours since Tails had gone to the bedroom, and it was only about now she came out. "Hey, Vanilla? What time is it?" She asked.

"5:30." Vanilla answered.

"Really? How long was I out?"

"A few hours."

"I see..." and Tails let out a long yawn. "Anything on the tube?"

"Not much."

"Fare enough." Tails said. "I should probably finish up those prescriptions I have, shouldn't be much left in them..." And Tails walked over to her bag and opened it, going through it to find the items.

"Do you have somewhere to be?"

"Not that I reca-..." And Tails then found something in her bag and pulled it out. It was the Lamaze leaflet. "Oh...scratch that." She said. "I suppose this." She opened the leaflet.

"What?"

Tails takes the leaflet over to Vanilla and hands it to her.

Vanilla reads the leaflet. "So, your Lamaze class is at six." said Vanilla.

"Seems so." Tails said.

"So are you feeling okay?"

"About what?"

"You were a bit under, but what about now?"

"I'm feeling much better now." Tails said. "I think I just got a little worked up."

"I see."

"It's not something I'm keen to talk about either. I just got so worked up that I made myself sick."

"Then wash up, we're leaving in five minutes."

"Should I bother with the prescriptions?"

"Those first."

"Okay." And Tails returns to her bag, takes her prescriptions and heads to the bathroom.

5 minutes later, Tails returned and put the prescriptions back in her bag and felt refreshed from a quick wash, she also made sure to empty her pecks just encase she had an embarrassing milky moment later. The last thing she wanted to do was lactate during her classes. After checking her things, she was ready to go. She went into the kitchen to find Vanilla, who'd just found her keys. "I'm done." Tails said.

"Ready to go?" asked Vanilla.

"Yup." Tails replied with a smile. "Little nervous though..."

"Why the face?"

"Huh? What face?" Tails asked, confused.

"You were leaking, weren't you?"

"Uuhh..Not really..."

"Just so you know, you have to leave me some to cook with."

"I can live with that." Tails replied. "Also, I plan to bake a cake with my breast milk." Tails smiled happily. She then went through her bag again and took a few containers of her breast milk. "I will be honest that I did make sure to empty, no accidents, you know. Have room to freeze it? Wouldn't want it to go bad."

"Give me what you just lactated, or put it in the fridge."

Tails hands over the containers. "Have fun." She said.

"So you just milked these?"

Yes. Everyone who's tried it complains that it's plain. Marine wants to inject my breasts with chocolate syrup..."

Vanilla laughed. "Chocolate won't work. Now Dulce da Leché is another story."

"Dul da what?" Tails questioned.

Vanilla puts Tails' milk in the fridge. "Let's get you to your class."

"Sure..." Tails said.

And the two left and headed for the elevator. Upon arriving and hitting the button, the doors closed and Tails stood at the side of the elevator. She then thought she'd try something and used her index finger to draw a line down her belly.

"You okay?" asked Vanilla.

"Testing something..." Tails said. "I had a weird experience."

"Well, it happened in Knothole. Marine traced her finger down my belly and...I dunno if it's silly to think this, but it was almost as if Lavender followed her movement by poking from the inside..."

"Looks like Lavender likes Marine."

Tails traced her finger down her belly again. "It's not working..." Tails sighed. "Do you want to try?"

"Maybe later."

"You're not shy, are you?" Tails questioned.

"No, not at all. But all things will come in time."

"Fare enough." And Tails traced her own stomach again, followed by letting out a slight squeak.

"At least your spirits are high."

"Why wouldn't they be?"

"Good point."

"And soon, I'm hoping Cream will be back to her joyful happy self. I just hope I don't make things worse."

"Optimism is a good thing to have."

"You know. I still can't get over what happened in town today. It's just...I don't know what it is. But it's not something that..." And Tails lost her words.

"Let's keep that optimism."

"Something inside says it was weird...and yet another thing hopes it happens again. I'm confused..." Tails blushed a bit. Ding. The Elevator hit the ground floor.

"Now, let's see what happens on your first day of Lamaze." said Vanilla

"Still nervous." And the two leave the elevator.

After getting out of the building, the two headed for the town, and Vanilla checked the leaflet for the location of the classes. As they walked, more chatter was shared between the two.  
"Hey, Vanilla. What was it like when you were pregnant with Cream?" Tails asked, curious.

"Well, it was a very challenging experience for me." Vanilla answered. "I had a lot to deal with at the time, aside from having Cream."

"I know you weren't having the best of times. But was there anything during the pregnancy that just felt... I don't know...Weird, but at the same time, kinda 'magical'."

"There were a few moments, but they showed up after day seventeen."

"I see." Tails said. "Anything in particular?"

"Knowing that it will change my life forever."

"Oh." Tails replied, a little disappointed.

"Look at it this way, you have a lot more time to anticipate your daughter than I did."

"Oh, sorry. I forgot you have a lot less of a pregnancy span than I do..." Tails felt bad.

"Gestation isn't anything to be sad about."

"It doesn't matter." Tails said, she looked around. "It's not all that busy, is it?"

"What isn't busy."

"Anything. There's a lack of people in town today." Tails replied.

"Must be a bad sign..."

"Of what?"

The two continued on and finally got to the Lamaze class, the two entered the building, and Vanilla noticed a change in Tails spirits, it was obvious the fox with either scared or nervous or both.

"Hey, none of that." said Vanilla.

"I can't help it." Tails said, lowering her ears.

"You act like you don't want to go."

"I can't help being a little scared..." Tails replied.

"It's fine, I'll be here with you." and Vanilla rubbed Tails' back. It was a little while, but Tails was at least calming down.  
"Thanks, Vanilla."

"Let's get to the room of the class."

"Okay." And Tails followed Vanilla through the building.

The two get to the room where the class was held and all eyes are on Tails and Vanilla as they enter the room. _Just great. Now everyone stares at me..._ Tails thought, but didn't say anything.

"So you're taking classes here too, Miley?" asked another pregnant mother. She was bigger than Tails.

"U-uh huh." Tails nodded, her nerves clearly just reached an all time high.

"I didn't want to take this class, but I'm doing this for my kids."

"I'd say I was being forced into this. But I'd be lying." Tails laughed nervously.

"So how many are you having?"

"Just the one."

"Congratulations."

"Likewise, how many do you count?"

"I got three, one of each apparently..." and the mother-to-be gives a sigh.

"One of each?" Tails questioned.

"Apparently, one of mine is a herm."

"Not sure whether to call that lucky or unfortunate." Tails coughed. "For the child, I mean."

"Miley, be nice." said Vanilla.

"Oops...sorry." Tails lowered her ears. "I didn't mean anything by it."  
"You don't have to sound so scared you know. It's not all that bad; we're all in the same boat here." Said an arctic fox on the other side of previous speaking pregnant mother. Behind her was a black fox, which seemed to have the expression that he was simply tolerating being here. _Why does that guy remind me of Shadow so much...?_ Tails thought. _It's not just the fact he has black fur either..._

"Well, let's get you a spot." said Vanilla.

Tails nodded to Vanilla and followed her to a spot on the left. As she walked across the room, Tails had a study on those who were in the room, and from right to left she wasn't getting any calmer.

From right to left, Tails saw another pregnant brown fox, who seemed coupled with a red hedgehog, a cat couple, the bearcat pregnant mother with the triplets and her presumed other half. Then a Tappeti Rabbit coupled with an echidna, who strangely enough had her locks in different colours. After them were the Arctic pure white fox with the black fox and Vanilla and Tails sat down and to Tails surprise, the person next to her was a young rabbit roughly her age, maybe a little younger, with a fox who had a crescent moon shade of colour change on her face, the above part and behind was clearly all brown, but the rest was a pure white. The Rabbit was a pure white, and had three plumes on the top of her head which were held together with a form of hair band, each of the three bangs ended in a different colour, Yellow, Red and Blue, not exactly in that order. Tails got comfortable... well, as comfortable as her loose nerves would allow. The rabbit leaned over slightly and spoke to her in a low voice.  
"Um...I'm really...really glad that you're here too." She said shyly.  
"Huh?" Tails questioned. "How come?"  
"Well...If you weren't...then I'd be the only young one here, with a bunch of big ladies." The rabbit said.  
"Yeah, I was actually surprised to see another in my shoes, kinda." Tails said. "I guess it does help me relax a little..."

"So, how many days are you, young doe?" asked Vanilla.

The rabbit doesn't reply to Vanilla, she just slouches slightly with her head low again, blushing. The fox behind the rabbit smiled and gently pat her on the head, then looked at Vanilla.

"Isn't it amusing?" She said. "I'm a fox with a young rabbit, and you're a rabbit with a young fox."

"Not really." Vanilla answered. "Support is vital to these young girls."

"Oh absolutely." The fox replied. "It doesn't matter. My name is Kirika and this shy one is Muri. And I think she's about... 20 or 21 days, Muri?"

"21." Came the quiet reply.

"This is Miley as you know and I'm Vanilla." Vanilla introduced herself and Tails. "This is the first class, but at least you two are in it together."

"Indeed." Kirika smiled.  
"My name is Aqua and..." The Arctic fox said before getting interrupted.  
"Tell them my name and I will leave." The black fox grunted.  
"Awww, don't be such a grump, Hiei." Aqua grinned. He simply sighed and pat her on the head, but she grinned with victory.

_Muri is quiet..._ thought Vanilla. _I think she hid her pregnancy from Kirika._

_She's even more nervous than I am...wow, who'd have thought it..._ Tails thought.

"Aqua is a nice name." Vanilla said to herself.

"Thanks." Aqua smiled from the other side of the room.

"And your partner over there is quite supportive for being here with you."

"He's only here because he feels he needs to be, he doesn't necessarily have to like it."  
"Don't talk about me like I'm not right here." Hiei moaned.

"Most men aren't comfortable with this sort of thing." said our pregnant bearcat.

"I'd rather be chuggin' some beer somewhere." Said the red hedgehog, before his fox partner bopped him on the head.

"Hey, if you two guys wanna grab a couple after the class, feel free to come along with me." said the male bear cub as he rubs his wife's belly.

"Thanks, but beverages have no effect on me." Hiei said. _Shadow wannabe..._ Tails thought, narrowing her eyes.

"Okay everyone, let's begin." the class heard the voice of the teacher.

It was at this point that Muri just freaked and got out of her chair and was about to run off but Kirika caught her, in the most gentle of fashions. And Muri began wailing and making a scene.  
"I don't wanna do it, I don't wanna do it." She cried.  
"Shh, shhh, shhh...Calm, dear, calm." Kirika soothed her by stroking her ears down.

"So many jitters for a young girl." Vanilla whispered to Tails.

"I thought I was scared....." Tails replied, whispering. "But no, she takes the cake."

The teacher of the class flew in after the door opened. "Welcome everyone to All the Babymentals. My name is Saffron and I will be teaching you how to prepare for the life inside your own."

"Sorry about the noise. She'll relax in just a moment." Kirika apologised.  
"I hope so, she's a noisy pest..." The brown fox uttered. Aqua's ears twitched.  
"You're not one to talk, Shena." She said.  
"You want something, bitch?!" Shena stood and barked at Aqua.  
"Geez, take a chill pill. She's basically a kid, lay off, would ya?" Aqua calmly replied.

"Ladies, ladies, this isn't comforting." Saffron reminded all of the mothers. "I want all of you to keep in mind that this is a neutral place for everyone to get along. Now unless some of you are in a race to give birth first, no arguments. and refrain from the language, please." Shena took her seat and crossed her arms. The hedgehog looked at the bearcat male.  
"I'll take up your offer on that drink, dude. I'm gonna _**need**_ it after this..." He said.

"I'm sure both of you guys will." said the male bearcat.

"Nope. I'm still fine." Hiei replied.

"You three know this isn't about you, right?" Tails said to the males narrowed her eyes again.

"We better get started." said Saffron. It was about this time that Kirika had gotten a hiccupping scared doe back to her seat, but she was still clearly distressed.

"Saffron, what will be the first thing that our mothers should learn?" asked Vanilla.  
Saffron went over to Muri. "Don't be scared young lady." she said to the doe. "I still remember my first pregnancy and how scared I was." Muri didn't reply, she simply wiped her eyes, still hiccupping away. "This first lesson is for all of our mothers to stay as calm and collected as possible."

"Looks like we're off to a bit of a bad start." Kirika smiled, rubbing Muri's back down.

"No, we can use this situation as a good example." Saffron said with a smile. "Pregnancy can be a scary time for mothers and there will be many instances where you'll want to panic. Pregnant mothers should never come into a state of panic, because this will not only stress her, it will also stress the unborn foetus or foetuses.

"When the mother is in a state of panic, it's best to use various methods to calm her down. Soothing words, music, even rubbing her belly can all help calm the mother and unborn ones down."

"Mind if I try something?" Tails asked.

"Feel free." Tails then leaned over to Muri and lifted her ear slightly, and appeared to be whispering to her, but in such a tone that chances are no one else could hear what she was saying. However, as Tails was whispering. Muri's eyes moved and focused on the red hedgehog and then Shena for a short time. After another few seconds she began giggling and Tails returned upright in her seat, leaving Muri in her giggles.

"See, this is the sort of thing that should be happening in this class." said Saffron. "The rest of you can learn from the examples of these young girls." Aqua applauded the girls and despite being the only one doing so, she didn't mind. She just smiled along and happily clapped for them.

"That was a funny little joke, Miley." Aqua said.  
"You heard me?" Tails questioned.  
"My ears do more than frame my face. Chances are Hiei heard you as well." And she looked up to Hiei who did have a grin on his face. "Yup."

Afterwards, all of the couples introduced themselves, including the mothers-to-be talking about their terms. Muri did well considering she was quiet about it. And Saffron smiled.

"So, you're probably wondering why a girl like me is teaching Lamaze classes." said Saffron. "Well let me tell you that even though I don't look like it, I am actually pregnant."

"You are?" asked Vanilla. "You're not really..."

"Pregnant material, I know. But bees reproduce in bulk. In fact, I give birth almost every morning."

This comment got her looks. "Seriously?" Tails replied, surprised.

"Seriously. Bees lay a lot of eggs, thousands actually. The colony of bees is constantly going and the birth-rate of bees is constant."

"That's a lot of kids...."

"Does it....hurt?" Muri asked, shyly.

"Not anymore, but birth can be painful." Saffron said and had a seat. "My first time, I had to lay 300 eggs. It took seven and a half hours to do it in too."

"I'm scared..." Muri began to shake a little.

"It's okay to be scared, but don't worry about my experiences. You won't deliver that many in one pregnancy ever, so take solace in knowing this." _She doesn't look like anymore than three in her. But I could be wrong._ Thought Vanilla.

"Three hundred for the first birth and limits to the thousand. I'd say you probably develop about 160 or so eggs in about 6-12 hours..." Aqua guessed.

"I can't brag... Anyway, let's discuss things that help us calm down after a bad experience. We'll start with you, Aqua."

"Hm, after a bad experience. That all depends on the experience." Aqua said. "Music however I've found is a good way to relax, some from that band...what are they called... Oh, Within Temptation."

"That's good." said Saffron. "How about you, Shena?"

"I don't want to tell mine." Shena replied.

"I remember a mother had a calming experience she didn't want to discuss, but we found out later that sex calmed her down."

"That's not my method, I'll tell you that." Shena said.  
"Why don't you just admit that whenever Seifa pisses you off, you watch violent movies and pretend the guy being killed in a most gruesome fashion is Seifa?" Kirika said.

"Ladies, remember to be positive, there are young mothers present." Saffron advised.

"Sex as a relaxation method." And Aqua looks at Hiei. "Next time I get stressed, we're doin' it." She said poking his nose. Muri and Tails giggled.

"In all fairness though, Kirika is right, I do that." Shena said.

Saffron sweat dropped. "O-kay... and what do you do, Muir?"

"I generally curl up in a comfortable ball and have someone pat me down." Muri blushed.

"I see. Rolling up and thinking like your unborn child is a very useful strategy. Vanessa, what about you?"  
"Before you go on, I was wondering just what is a bearcat anyway?" asked Vanilla.

"What kind of question is that?" Tails asked, curious.

"Just wondering. I've heard of a bear and a cat, but not a bearcat."

"Was anyone else besides Vanilla and myself, wondering what a bearcat is?" asked Saffron. Muri raises her hand. But the rest seemed contented.

Vanessa smiled. "We bearcats are odd animals." she said. "But we are in the same family line as the mongoose."

"I think I am confused already." Muri said.

"So a bearcat is pretty much a big mongoose?" asked Vanilla.  
"Pretty much." Vanessa answered. "When I get scared, or panic over things when I'm pregnant, I rub my trio here down with baby oil or pad my breasts. Sometimes I even hook up the pump and milk myself to relieve my stresses." Tails blushed, but didn't say anything.

"What about you, Miley?" asked Saffron.

"Uhhh..." Tails thought for a moment. "I haven't really thought about it..." She said.

"Surely there is something..."

"Well...I guess I like to cuddle. And a bubble bath always works." Tails blushed a little further.

"A bath is always soothing. Speaking of which, we will talk about bathing your baby later." said Saffron.

"I'm guilty of the sex relaxation." Said the echidna.

"Don't feel guilty." said Vanilla. "Some women do find sexual intercourse during their pregnancy effective."

"Hope you don't mind. But that's making me uncomfortable..." Tails moaned.

"I'm curious. When was the last time you had a good lay, little girl?" Shena asked Tails.  
_Never_... Tails thought. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Vanilla, you seem contented about this. How did you handle your pregnancy?" asked Saffron.  
"My pregnancy with my daughter was rough, but herbal tea helps a lot." Vanilla answered. "It even helped me deal with sore ankles."

"Haven't had sore ankles yet." Tails said.  
"A lot of times my entire body aches..." Muri said.

"Tea will help with that." said Vanilla.  
"Actually, body aching is common in pregnant mothers, especially in the lower back." said Saffron. "My achy days were a real pain. And when it happened that I had an achy day, I was given a good back massage."

"Son-...uhh..." Tails cut herself. "A friend I've been staying with gives me a good back massage when I need it." She said. "Does work."

"Son?" asked Vanessa. "You mean Sondra?"

"Oh, no. Sonia." Tails 'corrected'.

Other forms of relaxation were discussed. And with the comparing and contrasting over, it was time for the next lesson.

"Okay mothers, this next part doesn't apply to me, but it will to you." said Saffron. "We're going to discuss nursing. Nursing is a very special time between mother and baby, and it can also be troublesome for some of the mothers. There are proper ways to nurse your baby, but these can vary from mother to mother. But before I go into things, I wanna get a few questions that you mothers may have when it comes to nursing."

"I've heard that breast feeding doesn't always work." Aqua said. "But I'm curious as to why this would be."

"That's true. Sometimes, the process doesn't work." said Saffron. "However, there are reasons to why it won't and they aren't limited to; improper latching; lack of milk flow; baby doesn't want to nurse; and some mothers will have babies who are allergic to their breast milk."

"Isn't that...bad?" Muri asked. "If they were allergic, isn't that a little dangerous?" Muri questioned.

"Well not exactly. On rare instances, babies are allergic to their mother's milk. An allergy report can tell you this if your baby shows this assumption."

"But...they aren't at any risk?"

"In most cases, no. You should see signs that your baby is allergic to your milk, and should notify your doctor in these cases.

"Now if your baby is allergic to your milk, there are other substitutes that you can give your baby that are a safer choice, like soy milk."

"It's actually interesting this came up, since Muri actually was allergic to her mother's milk." Kirika said.

"Well, that only makes sense that you are concerned." said Saffron. "What else might be of concern?"

"Are there any milk that are bad in consideration for replacing our breast milk, on the assumption the baby can't or won't drink ours?" Tails asked.

"That depends on your baby." Saffron addressed Tails. "Some babies will have to drink other milks, or formula depending on what works and doesn't cause an allergic reaction to your baby."

_What about if your breast milk has chaos energy in it..._ Tails thought. Hiei looked at Tails momentarily, then closed his eyes and resumed his calm ignoring of the situation. _What the...that was weird, almost like he heard my thoughts..._ Tails sweat dropped.

"How about concerns from the older mothers or fathers-to-be?" Saffron asked. The room remained silent.

"I see. Well let's move on. Now it's time for a few visual aids. We're going to look at the inside of the breast and explain how lactation occurs and all the things that go into it."

"Woopie, now I get to see _why_ my breasts just can't contain **anything**." Tails sighed.

*

The class was over in two hour's time and everyone was getting ready to go with pamphlets and videos in tote. "Man, I'm glad that class is over." said Jack. "Hey Seifa, ready for a few cold ones?"

"Pleeeaaaase..." Seifa dragged. "Oh god my damn neeeeeeds." Seifa moaned.  
"Another movie for me tonight it seems." Shena said pissed.  
"Are you going to join them, Hiei?" Aqua asked.  
"I'd rather eat fish paste." Hiei replied.  
"Still unsociable."

"He reminds me of someone else I know. Stubborn as hell and very moody." said Vanilla.

"Hey, we're on the same page, Vanilla." Tails smiled coyly.

Suddenly there was a squeak from Muri. "Waah! I'm scared!" She cried slightly.  
"What's wrong?" Kirika asked her.  
"It's doing something!" Muri panicked.

"Are you okay?" asked Vanessa. Aqua walked over to her and crouched down, placing a hand on her stomach. After about a minute, Muri squeaked again and resumed her panic attack.  
"Awww, how sweet. You don't need to be scared. Your baby is just saying hello." Aqua smiled.

"It's...saying hello?" Muri questioned, having instantly calmed down.

"Yes. It's just kicking, so it's saying hello." Aqua replied.  
"Oooohh..." Muri relaxed now.  
"Aww, that's cool. Let me see." Tails said as she walked over and placed her hand on Muri's stomach. Then Muri squeaked for the third time. This startled Tails a little. "Whoa...that's actually...that was cool."

"Kicking babies are nothing to worry about." Vanessa assured Muri.

"It's never happened before." Muri said.

"It'll happen often, but it's nothing to worry about."

"Kirika, you said that Muri was how far along?" asked Vanilla.

"21 days." Kirika replied.

"She hid her pregnancy, huh?"

"What makes you say that?"

"When we met and you asked her how far along she was. Then her body language when she gave her response to you..."

"You're perceptive." Kirika said. "Yes, I found out 3 days ago."

Vanilla got into whispering range of Kirika. "Between us, she's a little further along than just twenty-one days." she whispered to Kirika.

"Really?"

"That's what I think, but look after her and keep her from getting too scared."

"Of course."

"So, just how did you find out?" Tails asked. "Did you just guess?"  
"I had my suspicions after a few signs. So I had her use a test. It didn't take a second for that thing to turn blue."

"I have a few pointers on how to help her when the moment comes." and Vanilla handed Kirika a small stack of 3x5 cards. "This will help you and Muri get through things." Kirika looked slightly confused. "I know, I'm a rabbit after all, but there was a lot going on in my life when I had my daughter. These will help Muri in case things get too out of hand."

"Thanks." And Kirika took the cards.

"So, see you in a few days at the next class?"

"Most likely." Kirika said. "We're going to head for some food, then head home."

"Okay." And the crew of pregnant woman and company parted ways.

"I kinda feel sorry for Muri." Tails said to Vanilla.

"At least you've made a friend in class today." said Vanilla.

"Indeed, and you seemed to as well."

"Kirika and I shared a few motherly tips."

"Not just Kirika, that bearcat as well. I think we all became friends there. Probably not including Shadow the fox."

"You mean Hiei...." Vanilla giggled. "See, aren't you happy you came to class?"

"I was only scared, not regretful. Poor Muri completely wigged out though..."

"She is younger than you... probably Cream's age."

"That's kinda scary. I thought it was bad at my age but..."

"Let's get home and enjoy some tea."

"Okay."

The two got back to Vanilla's place, but were in the elevator going up. Tails was leaning against the side, staring at the roof.  
"Hey, Vanilla..."

"What's wrong?" asked Vanilla.

"About this Shadow thing. What would you do...if you were me?"

"I would make him earn my heart."

"Earn my...heart..." Tails repeated, but trailed. "This is getting a bit much."

"No. You shouldn't rush into your heart... Make sure his feelings are into it, and then give him the benefits of the heart... and the body."

"It's not just him..."

"Then what is it?"

"It's everything else in my heart...and in others hearts as well. For the longest time I've...I've loved Sonic, but as time went on and I grew into being a boy, they vanished into the back corner of my mind. And then you have Cream and Marine, both who want me in a relationship, and that's far beyond just clear." Tails explained. "And now there's this....this unknown entity in my heart that Shadow opened. I knew it was always there and that I did feel a slight attraction to him. But now it's like it has its own gravitational pull. And I'm torn between 4 people." Tails looked at Vanilla and her eyes watered. "And I don't want to hurt any of them."

"I see..."

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. There is nothing to feel torn about, your heart makes everything clear. Those who love you will understand."

"But...I don't know what to do...Or what I want."

"Then play the field and find out."

Tails didn't reply. She simply looked at the floor of the elevator as it came to a stop and opened. This however was not the floor they were to get off on and some people came into the elevator. There were a lot of people and Tails was getting squished against the wall.

"H-hey! Careful! I'm having a baby here, stop crushing me!" She moaned.

"Hey, show a little consideration!" Vanilla yelled.

"We can't help it, there's not enough room for us all." Said a random person.  
"Gah...Get out of my way! I'm leaving." And Tails carefully pushed her way out of the elevator, but tripped on the way out and landed on her belly and rolled over a bit.

Vanilla went to Tails' aide. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm okay...but I don't know about...Lavender." Tails said, lifting herself up a little, using one hand to hold her belly.  
"Oh, I'm sorry. I think that was my fault. Can I help you at all?" Ask a black and red Armadillo as he walked over and knelt to Tails, in concern.

"That was quite a fall, let's get you checked up." said Vanilla.

"May I carry you? I feel responsible." The Armadillo offered. The elevator had closed and the two were on a floor they didn't want.

"I don't want to move for a minute..." Tails said, placing her other hand on the floor to support herself.

"Let's give you a moment, and then get you to a hospital." said Vanilla.

"Ehh...so much for tea..." Tails said. Tails then shifted herself to sit on the floor and let out a long breath.

"I'm really, really sorry." The Armadillo apologized.

Vanilla looked at the armadillo. "You look familiar somehow..." she said.

"Oh, you might have heard of me. I'm one of the Chaotix crew." He replied. "My name is Mighty."

Tails burst into tears. "I think Lavender is in pain..." She cried.  
"Okay. Not waiting anymore." And Mighty carefully and effortlessly picked up Tails.

"Let's get to the hospital." said Vanilla.

"Let's go." And Mighty hastily but carefully moved to the stairs and headed to the bottom floor. _What a day..._ He thought. _First I get dumped and now this... Someone really must hate me right now..._ They get to the bottom floor where they head to the exit, just as they reached halfway, the door opened and in came Amy, Tikal and Cream, clearly heading back after being dropped off by Knuckles and then shopping, with the bags they had.

"What's going on?" asked Cream.

"Why is Tails crying?" Amy asked.  
"Sorry ladies, no time to explain. We have to go." Mighty said. He took Tails passed the girls, who then turned to Vanilla.

"What happened?" Amy asked.

"We're going to the hospital, the baby may be in trouble." Vanilla answered

"What?!" Amy gasped. "That's awful!" And the girls all went in pursuit of Mighty and Tails.

Luckily, however, they was an available cab nearby, so there was no need for a long run, although Amy opted to go on foot, due to the lack of space in the taxi. The cab trip was hasty due to the driver's concern, it was as safe as it needed to be, but still over the speed limit slightly. Luckily it wasn't pulled over. Mighty got out of the cab and headed into the building. The girls were tending to Tails; Vanilla paid the driver the fare and a small tip for his concern. Truthfully, she was so concerned, she didn't care for change.

"Can someone help us please?!" Mighty called, inside the hospital, grabbing the attention of employees and patients alike. There wasn't much for them to say before Tails got helped out of the cab and taken into care. Doctor Quack was notified of the situation and was on his way.

All they could do now was wait in the waiting room, Mighty sat in a chair in the corner, elbows in knees and face in palms. It wasn't too much longer that Amy arrived.  
"Is she okay?" She asked.

"We'll find out." Vanilla answered.

"What happened?" Tikal asked.

"It's my fault this happened." Mighty said from the corner. "I'm responsible."

"Let's stay positive for the mother's sake." said Vanilla.

"Could someone please explain?" Tikal asked.

"She fell on her belly." Vanilla stated.

"I hope she's okay..." Amy said. She took a seat next to Cream and hugged the doe a bit.

Inside the ward. Tails was relaxing on the bed, being treated by Dr Quack.

"So, what happened to you?" asked Dr. Quack.

"I was *hic* getting squished in an elevator, so I tried to leave and my feet got caught. I fell onto Lavender." Tails replied, calming down.

"I see. You're worried about your daughter... and how did you fall?"

"Straight onto my stomach, I didn't have much time to stop myself with my hands."

"Well, I had a look inside and nothing was wrong. Did you feel any bleeding at all?"

"Something didn't feel right, I thought she was hurt." Tails said.

"Well, we'll monitor you and your daughter for today and see if anything is wrong."

"Yeah...O-okay." Tails said.

Dr. Quack had an eyebrow raised. "Is there something I should know about?"

"L-like what?"

"That response was a bit delayed. Thinking about aborting now?"

"NO!" Tails snapped a bit too loud. "I'd never think to do that!"

"Then what's wrong?"

"It's just...You mean I have to stay here again?"

"Just tonight, but it's only for observation."

"So, not for a whole day or something then." Tails said. "I just...wanted to somehow make it up to Cream. I can't beleive this happened..." Tails had completely relaxed now, but sighed.

"I see... Well the point of this is because everyone was scared of your safety. It's probably nothing to be of concern, but it's a precaution."

"I know...I'm sorry." Tails said and got comfortable in the bed.

"Who knows, you may be out of here by tonight if all goes well."

Tails rubbed her belly. "You should probably tell the others. They might be worried..."

"But of course." Dr. Quack left Tails' room and went to address everyone waiting to hear word if Tails' condition.

As he entered the waiting room, everyone looked at him expectantly.  
"Is she okay?" Mighty asked, a twinge of guilt in his voice.

"So far, everything's fine." Dr. Quack assured everyone. "We'll monitor her for a while as a safety precaution

"But for now, the two of them are stable." And everyone relaxed.  
"Thank heavens." Mighty sighed.

"If you'll excuse me, I have a patient to see." and Dr. Quack left the waiting party

Mighty then stretched his muscles a bit and walked over to Vanilla.  
"I really am sorry for the trouble I caused. I've gotta go now, but I hope everything will be okay." He said to her.

"Thinks should be fine." said Vanilla.

"Yeah. Okay. Again I'm sorry." And with a bow, Mighty left. The other girls watched him leave.  
"So, what do we do now?" Amy asked.

"I'm going to be here for a while." Vanilla told Amy.

"Hey, Cream. We should get back to your house, okay?" Amy said to Cream. "I'm sure Tails will be fine."

"I'm conflicted." said Cream.

"Well, let's head back, Vanilla has things covered here."

"Tikal, can you keep an eye on Cream?" asked Vanilla.

"Certainly." Tikal said. "I'll babysit them both."

"Hey!" Amy countered, to which she got a simply giggle from Tikal.

"I am not a baby." said Cream.

"Oh, sorry. Not to imply you were, Cream. I was simply teasing Amy." Tikal smiled walking over. "Don't you have some puzzles at home. I'm interested in finding a difficult one to play with."

"We can do the Eiffel Tower."

"Sounds good to me." And Tikal took Cream out of the waiting room and they left. Amy followed. Vanilla sat there and kept positive. _I hope Tails doesn't feel like this is problematic to her again._ she thought.

(( End Notes: Aqua, Hiei, Shena, Seifa, Kirika, Muri and Mikuru (Echidna) are (c) to Tsuikai and the Bearcat couple are Kattx. You are not allowed to include them in any of your own works. Thank you.))


	18. Chapter 18

((Yet another warning for what is in the content, if you don't like it then you can go ahead and skip ahead. Just for your information, this is the last garrenteed Yuri part of this story (not to say there won't be more instances, but we don't have any planned.) Thank you all so much for the nice reveiws thus far and sorry if it appears we're dragging this out a long time, it's just so much fun. We hope to hear more reveiws from you all, and hope we haven't scared you away. Now, without further delay, please enjoy the 18th chapter.))

It was only a few hours of waiting, but Tails was let off on the promise she'd keep rested for the night. Vanilla and Tails had taken a cab ride to Vanilla's home and were heading to the elevator again. "I hope we don't have Deja Vu." Tails said.

"We can always take the stairs." said Vanilla.

"How many floors?"

"Elevator it is.."

And the two got in the elevator and it was empty, luckily enough. And the button was pressed and up they went.  
"I can't believe all that happened." Tails said, rubbing her belly.

"I'm just glad you two are okay."

"Me too...I got worried."

"Let's stand in the middle of the elevator this time."

Tails nods and walks into the middle of the elevator as it went up. Luckily they reached their floor with only one stop, and that was just for a single person who stood out the way in the corner. The two left on their floor and went to Vanilla's door.

Vanilla took her keys and opened the door, letting the fox in first and then following. Tikal was lying on the sofa and the other two weren't in sight.  
"We're back." Tails said. Tikal got up and looked over the sofa.  
"Everything is okay then?"She asked.

"Just a false alarm." Vanilla answered. "A bit of bumps, but Lavender isn't in any trouble at all."

"That's good. Cream is in the bathroom at the moment and Amy nipped to the shop." Tikal said.

"I see."

"Anything I can do?" Tikal asked.

"Take Amy to the Mystic Ruins when she gets back. Have her spend two days there with you."

"Any real reason?"

"Help her meditate... and build survival skills."

"Will do." Tikal said.

Cream came out from the bathroom and headed into the living room to see the two had returned.  
"Hey, Cream." Tails waved at Cream.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yes, I just got a little more worried than i needed to be." Tails blushed.

Cream gave a sigh of relief. "Well, at least things are well with you two."

"Yes, indeed." Tails said walking over to Cream. She took her by the hand and pulled her towards her room. "Now things need to be well with us." She said.

"I think I'll simply get Amy now and delay." Tikal said. "Back in 15." She said, before leaving the place.

Tails leads Cream to her room and Vanilla simply watches the two go. _Well, you better make this count._ She thought.

The two were once again in Cream's room. "Tails, what's going on here?" Cream asked.  
"It's not about what is going on." said Tails. "What comes off will be the main deal."  
"What comes off..." Cream was confused. "And what exactly might be coming off?"  
"Our clothes." Tails answered.  
This reaction shocked Cream. "Okay, what is going on here?"  
"It's called resolution, Cream. But this time, things are going to be saved."

"Saved?"  
"Cream, let's face it. Every time the two of us have tried to mend what we have, it has always gone wrong."  
Cream's head drooped. "Tell me about it."  
Tails' ears drooped. "We're in a really bad spot right now, and everything we've tried so far has only made things worse. But I need to know one thing that is very important... I need to know how you feel about me."  
"I... I'm not sure.... and hearing about stabbing you to death from your nightmare doesn't make me feel easy."

"So you don't have feelings for me anymore?"  
"That's not it at all! I just, I just don't want to hurt you anymore." and Cream sat on her bed about to cry. "I can't do this anymore, Tails. It's too painful right now..."  
It was at this moment where Tails remembered what Marine had told her before they left from Knothole... the tail end of it. She then took a deep breath. "So how should we save what he have?" she asked.  
"Save us... you mean our bond needs saving right?" Cream guessed.  
"Yeah, it needs saving."  
"I don't know. Everything I've tried to do to save what we have has only made things worse. I don't know how we can save things, but I'm welcome to try anything."  
"We're gonna do it."  
Cream's eyes got wide. "Wait, do what?"  
"It, as in each other."  
"You mean sex, but you're pregnant...."  
"You said you were welcome to try anything."  
"That I did, but..."  
"And I already gave you head earlier in my pregnancy..."  
"Yeah, but sex is different than head... Okay, I'll have sex with you."

Cream kicked off her shoes, revealing her white ankle socks and sat on the bed. Tails managed to lay Cream back and for the second time, managed to get her hands under Cream's dress. For the second time during her term, Tails was pulling Cream's panties down the rabbit's thighs.

"Ring print panties this time." said Tails.  
"No, those are angel halos." Cream corrected.  
"Oh." and Tails pulled them off of Cream anyway.  
_I can't believe I'm actually not going to raise a complaint._ thought Cream as she saw her panties being removed. _Maybe this is something I really need after all..._

_Now Cream, lemme satisfy you and make your mother happy._ Tails thought, then began to undress herself.  
"Now, explain again why we're about to do this?" asked Cream.  
"Because we need it and we're saving our love." Tails answered.  
"Right."  
Once she was undressed, Tails spread Cream's legs open again. _Here we go again..._ she thought. _Only, all the way this time._ and Tails positioned herself over Cream.  
"So, how is this gonna work again?" asked Cream. "I mean, I know we're gonns do it... but is this like birds?"  
"Yeah, just like birds." Tails answered. "Neither of us is a guy here."  
"Well, I have a vibe that works for two..."  
"...Okay, you get that and I'll wait on the bed."

The two switched places and Cream grabbed her vibe. Once she had it, Cream sat on the bed in front of Tails. "So, you have to put your end in first, then act like a guy." she said.  
"Right." said Tails and took the vibe. She placed her end two inches inside of herself. It caused her to wince, but Tails was otherwise fine. Afterwards, she pulled Cream towards her, making the other end of the vibe penetrate the rabbit in the process. After that, Tails put her right leg in Cream's lap and Cream's right leg went into her lap, then the two began simulating intercourse where one of them (most likely would've been Cream) was thrusting away.

Vanilla could hear both girls moaning in the room, and she shook her head. _Well, I guess I can't be mad at those two for having sex._ thought Vanilla and she sipped her tea.  
Five minutes of their current position, it was time to switch. "Are you decent enough for humps?" asked Cream.  
"I am a bit." Tails answered. "But who goes first?"  
"I can start out subordinate." Cream offered.  
"No, I think I'll let you have the first hump."  
"Can you turn on all fours?"  
"Yeah, give me a moment."

Tails turned on all fours and Cream had her right hand on the vibe. And after placing both of Tails' tail over the right, Cream mounted Tails and began her thrusts. "Let me know if it's too far for you." said Cream.  
"Okay." said Tails.  
_Well, I never thought I would hump Tails, but this is what she wants._ thought Cream, then took the fox doggy style.

What shocked Cream the most was the reaction she got out of Tails while doing this. The hardest part of the actual act was knowing how to place her hands. Cream didn't want to hold Tails' hips, but tried to wrap her arms around the fox's belly. That didn't work all too well, so Cream's hands cupped Tails' breasts... but gently, so not to hurt her partner. after a few minutes, Cream paused to turn Tails around and lay the fox on her back, then continued her humping. _I never thought I'd like this so much..._ both of them thought as their moans egged their hips on. Both girls started to quief, but neither of them were gonna rag on the other. Afterwards, Cream stopped humping Tails and sat in front of her. "Are you okay?" asked Tails.  
"It's your turn to do me now." Cream answered.  
_I hope I can actually pull this off._ thought Tails as she positioned herself over Cream.  
_I hope this doesn't overexert her._ thought Cream, then she wrapped her arms over Tails' shoulders.

Tails managed to hump Cream like they had figured and everyone was enjoying themselves. Tails was shocked at the fact that she was able to give Cream "the business" so well despite being halfway through her pregnancy. _I hope I'm not crushing her._ She thought.  
_I hope she isn't worried about crushing me._ Cream thought.  
"How are you holding up?" asked Tails. "Be honest."  
"I honestly don't feel crushed if it makes you feel better." Cream answered.  
"Thanks, but what about the sex?"  
"It's almost how I dreamed it would be?"  
"**Almost?!**"  
"Well, you weren't pregnant in my dreams."  
"Were you pregnant in the dreams?"  
"At one time, but only five days."  
"Oh."  
"By the way, your breasts are very soft."  
"And they're also sensitive."  
"Make sure to squeeze mine when you ride me, okay?"  
"Um... sure."

After a bit of being on her back, Tails stopped and turned Cream on all fours, then finally had her ride on the rabbit. Thirty seconds into the thrusting, Tails takes up Cream's offer and handles those bunny breasts of hers. "Your tits are perky, Cream." Tails said.  
"Yeah, they have to be, I don't have a bra like you do." said Cream.  
"We can compare bras next month."  
"Deal."

After a while of giving Cream doggy style sex, Tails finally dismounted and fell backwards onto the bed. Cream noticed the fox laying back and removed the vibe. "Worn out?" she asked.  
"Yeah, I'm worn." Tails answered.  
"Okay. I guess that's all for our sex." and Cream placed her hand on Tails' belly. "And you don't have to worry about the jostling anymore, Lavender." and Cream kisses Tails' belly. When she moved away, the rabbit noticed a section of Tails' belly poking across. "Tails, can you feel that?"  
"Feel what?" Tails asked, still trying to recover from the sex.  
"Lavender moving around."  
"Oh yeah, she does that."  
_I wonder if Lavender is conscious of the outside world._ Cream thought. _She seems to be dancing in there..._

Noticing the horizontal bump going across Tails' belly, Cream manages to press it with her pinky. This causes the movement to stop. However, the point went away when Cream moved her finger. Cream used her pinky to draw a diamond on Tails' belly and was shocked to find that Lavender followed the same pattern. "Tails, she followed me." Cream said, somewhat excited. "Lavender followed me."  
"Well, she has done that with one other person." said Tails as she sat up somewhat.  
Cream used her pinky to draw a spiral on Tails' belly going outside in. Lavender made the same spiral, but went inside out. Cream decided to draw a heart on Tails' belly for Lavender... Lavender followed, but kept going. As a result, she Followed Cream's heart and connected a smaller heart inside of the one Cream had traced out. "Well, your daughter's really smart." said Cream with a smile. "I guess that runs in the family."  
"I guess so too." said Tails, then the two girls share laughs.

Vanilla hears the laughter from her room. "Looks like those two are back on positive terms again." she said to herself as she poured another cup of tea.

*

The next morning, Tails was woken by the light of the sun beaming in through the window. She yawned a little and then went to move, but noticed her right arm was numb. Apparently the girls were having so much fun playing with Lavender last night that eventually they wore each other to sleep, and Cream was on Tails arm. The doe's peaceful face was enough to stop Tails from attempting to wake her up. Instead, Tails eased her arm, trying to free herself, but the lack of room stopped her from doing so, so she just continued to lie there and stare at the ceiling. _Guess I have to wait for Cream to wake up. I think my arm has lost most of the blood circulation. Hopefully it won't start hurting before too long... _She thought.

"Five fun stacks of pancakes... heavy syrup." Cream said in her sleep and rolled over.

_Guess I know what I'm making Cream for breakfast..._Tails thought. Thanks to Cream rolling over, Tails was able to free her arm, then carefully tried to climb over Cream to leave the room.

Tails managed to stand on her feet, after climbing over the bed. She got changed and snuck out of the room and closed the door behind her. She walked towards the kitchen whilst rubbing her numb arm, getting the blood flowing again painfully. She'd noticed Vanilla was cleaning the house.  
"Morning." Tails said.

"You had a good night's sleep." said Vanilla.

"The night was good, but my arm really aches now." Tails said. "Slowly the feeling is coming back into it though."

"You didn't sleep on it, did you?"

"No, Cream did." Tails giggled.

"Speaking of that, how are you sleeping?"

"You mean in general or last night?"

"Generally speaking."

"Well, sometimes I just wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep, generally I sleep okay though."

"I see. What about position wise?"

"I usually sleep on my side or back."

"You mean flat on your back?"

"Yes."

"I can understand sleeping on your side. But if you sleep on your back, you better be propped up."

"How do you mean?"

"Sleeping flat on your back can be bad for you."

"So can front, so I'm glad i don't do that." Tails replied.

"I won't up on my front once, I got worried, but everything was okay."

"Next time, have Pillows support your back and lean at an angle. You'll save your back and not have to worry about rolling over constantly."

"That'll work." Tails spoke to herself. "Thanks Vanilla. Any plans for breakfast?"

"None."

"Well then. I'll make up a 'thank you' breakfast for you, I wonder if you have the ingredients though..." Tails wondered. "Pancakes don't need all that much though, do they?"

"Nope, not regular ones."

Vanilla shook her head and smiled. "Lemme know if you need any help."

"Will do." Tails replied before she began searching the kitchen for everything she needed. However, when looking for the syrup, which she couldn't find. She located it in a top cupboard at the back and got on tiptoes to reach it. Normally she would have succeeded, but there was a certain bump down below which stopped her. Tails struggled to reach for the syrup. "Um...Vanilla..." She called.

"Something the matter?" asked Vanilla.

"Can't...reach...." Tails let out as she still reached for the syrup.

Vanilla reached up and grabbed the syrup for Tails. "Here you go."

"Thank you." Tails blushed and continued to prepare for her cooking.

"I better go grab the reaching arm."

15 minutes later and Tails was near enough ready to serve up. _Wonder if Cream's woken yet..._ She thought.

"How are things going in there?" asked Vanilla.

"Near enough finished." Tails replied.

"I'll set the plates."

"Okay." Tails replied and finished up. She then carefully took the pancakes into the other room. _I hope Cream likes this._ She thought.

"So what's next for you, sweetie?" asked Vanilla.

"I don't know. I go back to Sonic's. He might be worried." Tails replied.

"I see. Do you need me to take you?"

"Probably." Tails replied. "I can't go alone, but you can always fetch someone."

Cream finally walks out of the room rubbing her eyes. "Good morning everyone." she says with a yawn and sits at the table, barely sitting in the seat.

"You okay, Cream?" Tails asked, placing the food on the table, ready to be served and eaten. "Want a drink to wake yourself up a little?"

"Tired, I'm worn out."

"Oops." Tails replied.

"Well, you two definitely had a little too much fun." said Vanilla. "I remember the morning after I had sex with Cream's father and woke up like Cream did. Later that day, I started having pregnancy sickness."

"Wait a moment...That can't be right..." Tails said.

"What can't be right?" asked Cream.

"Well...Unless you're talking about the day you conceived Cream, you can't have done that." Tails said to Vanilla.

"Well Tails, there are many reasons why women will wake up sick." said Vanilla. "I reflect on that because I remembered it being a sick morning. I was still trying to figure out why I threw it up. And to think that night before the sex was a lovely dinner.... Lobster and all you can eat crab legs."

"I see...Somehow that changes my appetite."

"You ate so much water food... no wonder you were sick." said Cream. The morning conversation continued and the three had a nice chat.

*

Shadow was sat on a bench, looking over the park, he was in the lounge position with one leg over the other in a masculine way. What were currently going through his head were many questions that continued to roll around in his mind. _How should I ask her? what if she refuses? will she even like it? Just exactly how many things would she be able to do in her condition? _He let out a long sigh. Shadow shifted his position to lie on the bench with his hands behind his head and watched the clouds above him. On in particular he saw took on the shape of Tails face, smiling. "I can't even look at the sky without seeing her..." He said to himself.

"Staring at the clouds... I find that soothing." Shadow's silence was broken by Knuckles and knuckles was holding a smaller, red echidna in his left arm and wore a backpack.. "You always were one to be lost in thought."

Shadow looked at Knuckles. "I'd ask what brings you to the park, but it's obvious." Shadow replied.

"What's obvious?"

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "The reason you're in the park......" He said dryly.

"Oh... just taking a stroll."

"So you're not playing with the tyke."

"He's asleep."

"I meant before, but never mind." And Shadow went back to cloud watching.

"Nope, I was at Twinkle Park."

"What events are in there that don't involve rides?" Shadow asked, not looking away from the clouds.

"Carnival games. I would have tried the shooting gallery, but it isn't 'little guy' friendly."

"Too loud or too violent?"

"Loud. Nothing is too violent the Knuckles tribe echidnas."

"Hmm...I bet I'd do perfectly on the shooting gallery..." Shadow said, more to himself than Knuckles.

"I just stick to darts and tossing the balls or bean bags. The rings are rigged and I save my change for other oddities."

"Rings?"

"Ring toss."

"I see." Shadow said. "At least I'd get to show off a lot." Shadow said to himself, but was ment to think it instead.

"I show off with the hammer. That carnival game is a test of real muscle." said Knuckles as he flexed his free arm. "Use the hammer to smack the plank and ring the bell. That's muscle power."

"I'd expect you to break it." Shadow said.

"Nah."

"Not strong enough, huh?"

"Not gonna get yelled at by the people who want to try it next. I had to pay $700 to replace the last one I broke."

Shadow laughed. "Classic."

"Not as classic as you are when you go berserk and destroy stuff."

"Touché." Shadow said.

"So who's dragging you to Twinkle Park?" asked Knuckles as he sat down next to Shadow. "Theme parks aren't normally your idea of fun."

"No one's dragging me to it." Shadow replied.

"My mistake. I don't really care why you've decided to have fun. For all I know, this is probably a challenge to be faster in the Twinkle Circut by Sonic... or you're doing this to win a bet, or you just found a girl that promised to make your dick wet after a day at the carnival."

"Nope. None of those. I'm going to ask Tails if she wants to go." Shadow replied honestly.

"Tails promised to get your dick wet, huh?"

"I just said no, you idiot!"

"Mellow out, you're too uptight. Just remember to whistle her favourite carnival song every now and again."

"I don't even know what that is."

"There are two specific ones, one of them was learned for Cream, but I don't know which is which. At least that's what Sonic told me."

"So you mean to tell me that I not only have to ask Cream for a carnival theme song, but that irritating blue hedgehog as well?" Shadow gritted his teeth. "The things I put up with."

"No, I remember the songs. I just forget which of the two songs Tails favoured for Cream."

"You know, I'm surprised you didn't jaw drop to the floor, knowing I have intentions of asking a pregnant fox, who I recall is one of your best friends, on a date." Shadow sat upright and put his feet to the floor, still sitting though.

"I'm not a woman. I'm glad you've decided to do some dating." and Knuckles exhaled.

"Hmm..." Shadow said. "So, you going to tell me these songs or do I have to ask Cream and Sonic?"

"I'll tell you."

"I'm listening." Shadow said, and waited.

"Let's see. One was the remixed version of Bippity Boppity Boo from the second Cinderella and the other one had to do with tea... What was it again? Oh yeah, that Merry Merry Unbirthday shit. I can't stand that song. I can barely tolerate Tikal singing Colours of the Wind from Pocahontas."

"Oh god, tell me about it. She wanted me to sing some of that when I went to visit her...That Merry...merry..thing."

"That's nothing. She showed my brother her The Wizard of Oz and tried to have him clicking his heels.

"I'd rather sing Casey Jr. then do that shit.'

"So, she's just obsessed then..."

"No, my bro needs some kind of youthful memories."

"I still say she's obsessed."

"You should've seen what Tikal had Rouge sing."

Now Shadow was interested. "Oh?"

"Yeah... Rouge had to sing It's a Small World After All to leave. She was pissed when we got back to the Mystic Ruins."

"Well, she could convince me to sing some stupid song." Shadow said.

"I'll take Merry Merry Unbirthday over It's a Small World After All any day of the year."

"The other problem is I don't know the songs. But from the sound of things, you wouldn't catch me dead singing them." Shadow said.

"Well, you better get a crash course of Disney real soon."

"I'll pass I think. Thanks anyway."

"I never did like Alice and Wonderland... The White Rabbit was a pussy, the Cheshire was tripped out, that Merry Merry Unbirthday part makes me wanna leave the room and croquet with flamingos is enough to make me wanna spit out good beer."

"I see."

"The only thing I liked about Alice and Wonderland is the smoking caterpillar... Always had a long drag and puffed out letters with the smoke.

"At least in the anime remake Miyuki-chan in Wonderland, you get lesbian sex from the broads dressed up as chess pieces."

"Okay, I'm finished talking about this now."

"What's wrong with broads having lesbian sex?"

"I never said that. I'd just like to talk about something else." Shadow said, but he was clearly bothered by the topic.

_Man, he acts like he's hoping to take Tails' virginity._ Thought Knuckles. "Anyway, if you do have a date there, order a couple's cake. Tikal loves it when I get one of those and share it with her."

"Heh, I'll keep that in mind. But I have doubt's she'll even agree to go." Shadow replied.

"Tails turning down an offer to go to Twinkle Park? You either raped her or she's sick to the point where she can't get out of bed. Twinkle Park was the main excuse to get that fox out of the lab." Shadow didn't reply.

"Please tell me you didn't rape Tails..."

"Yes, Knuckles. I raped her." Shadow said, clearly sarcastically. "What kind of ass hole do you think I am? I'll do a lot of things, but raping someone is not something I get shits and giggles out of, nor does the idea get me off...."

"Man, Rouge and Tikal were right. You really are emo. Catch you later, Black Shot." and Knuckles walked away with his little brother.

"I should probably change that." Shadow said to himself. "Well, I guess I find Tails then." And off he warped.

Breakfast at Vanilla's had long since finished, Vanilla was typically cleaning the house. Cream and Tails however were enjoying a nice game of Mario Kart for the Wii, Tails was currently winning and Cream wasn't far behind. The computer settings were set to quite a difficult standard, however.  
"Silly Bowser is too slow if he hits anything." Tails said. "Yoshi for the win."

"I need a new vehicle." said Cream.

"Want me to unlock one for you?" Tails questioned, clearing the 2nd lap. "Shit! I friggin' hate those stupid..." Boom, Yoshi was sent into the air, and Cream took the lead. "Damn you Bowser and your stupid blue shells..."

"Good, now I can go and..." and Cream went off a cliff. "Stupid POW block."

"I'm in 5th, great..." Tails complained, picking up another box, her weapon shuffling. After clearing, Tails launched, having 3 red shells surrounding Yoshi. "Fun..."

"Stupid powerful ass weapon combos."

"My bad...say goodbye Princess Peach." and she launched a shell, taking the princess clean out and taking 4th. "Watch out Luigi, a certain little dinosaur has a treat for you." And Tails took out Luigi too, and then hit another box by this point. "How're you holding up?"

"I need mini-turbo practice."

"Here I come Mario..." But before she could fire her final shot, every racer was struck by lightning, and Tails was smashed by Bowser. "Son of a..."

"Did you set the items to aggressive again?"

"I don't remember, probably." Tails sweat dropped.

"I hate the Tiny Titan..."

"Looks like we had the 1st and 2nd places stolen from us." Tails said. She picked up another item box, and as soon as the weapon came into view she launched it. "Super star for the win!" And Tails zoomed past, crashing into people to spin them off, but avoided doing so to Cream, the two now in 4th and 5th place.

"Next time, I'm using a bike." said Cream and ran into the item box.

"Think we can take out Bowser, Luigi and Mario before they steal the wins?" Tails asked.

"Have fun, I got a killer." said Cream and uses her item. "Speeed!"

"Traitor." Tails pouted, and picked up a box. "I should have nuked you with my star..."

All went well with the race and Cream took third, but was only a thousandth faster than Tails, who took fourth. Tails sat back against the couch and let out a long drawn out sigh, rubbing her belly.

"Are you two okay?" asked Vanilla.

"I think last night is kicking in, I'm tired." Tails yawned. "That was fun though."

"You need more work in Mario Kart Wii."

"For the 3rd time playing it, I'm not doing too badly." Tails said.

"At least you had a decent vehicle." said Cream. "I was stuck in the Tiny Titan."

"Zip Zip! Pow, Zip zip." Tails said.

"Zip Zip, Tails?" asked Vanilla. "You should've been riding the Mach Bike. And Cream, everyone knows you do much better in the Mini Beast."  
"Well I would've used the Blue Falcon, but it slides too much." Cream whined.

"Mach Bike, huh?" Tails questioned. "Well, I'm bored of Mario Kart now, like i said, that was the 3rd race and I'm happy without a deciding winner."

"I would use Rosalina, but the heavy vehicles suck." said Vanilla.

"What shall we do now, Cream?" Tails asked.

"I'm gonna make cookies." Cream answered.

Tails poked her own breasts. "I wonder how full these are at the moment. Haven't had a 'leek' in a while." She said. "If I have enough, I could make that cake Sally wanted..."

"What cake might that be?" asked Vanilla.

"Just a cake using my breast milk instead of the typical milk." Tails replied. "Sally said that if you make a cake with your breast milk and have your friends eat it, it like a good luck charm or something when it comes to safe birthing. However, apparently if you make it without wanting to, it has the opposite effect. I'll admit at first I was a little unsure of the idea, but it actually sounds like fun."

Cream and Vanilla both laugh. "That old wife's tale?" asked Cream.  
"People still do that?" asked Vanilla.  
"Apparently so."  
"Well, I hope you make it very sweet. I'll take out the white gold of yours."

"Laugh all you want, I want to do it for another reason." Tails said.

"Hey, we aren't making fun of you." said Cream. "I'm just shocked that people still do that."

"Well, Sally requested it, but only if I wanted to do it." Tails replied. "Personally I reckon she just wants a cheap reason to get cake." She giggled.

"There's another reason why pregnant moms use their breast milk instead of regular milk to make a cake. However, I don't think you wanna hear that one."

"Try me..." Tails said, looking at Vanilla.

"There's that frozen milk." said Vanilla as she put the contained breast milk on the table. "I'll let Cream tell you that one." Tails looked at Cream.

"Well, when pregnant mothers make cakes with breast milk, they usually are trying to land themselves a man."

Tails then blushed furiously, but didn't bother looking away. _Geez, I hope Vanilla doesn't have the wrong idea or something..._

"So how are you gonna thaw that out?" asked Cream.

"You mean everyone's going to assume I'm making a cake because I was a significant male half?" Tails asked.

"No, not at all." Cream answered.

"Then what's to thaw out?"

"Hello?" Vanilla looked at Tails with the two containers of the fox's frozen milk on the table.

Tails shook her head. "Sorry....I'm distracted..." She said. _Stupid Shadow....Thanks to them bringing that up about that whole landing a man crap, you're stuck in my head..._ Tails blushed and pouted. "I've no idea."

"Rouge told me about how she milked you like a cow, Tails." said Cream. "Does that mean I get a turn?"  
"Is that so, I wanna try that too." said Vanilla.

Tails then sweat dropped. "Uhhh......" She said. _You fuckin' bitch, Rouge! I'll have my revenge for this! _Tails mentally cursed the bat.

"Well Cream, you might as well milk Tails now since she's probably full up top." said Vanilla.  
"Ok." said Cream. "I'll go and get the pumps."

"Do I get a say in this?" Tails whimpered.

"You were the one who talked about full you might be." said Vanilla. "We're just taking your hint to heart."

Tails curls up on the couch. "I still have nightmares about what Rouge did to me, I won't have needles in my tits again, if you plan to 'milk' me the way she did..." _First chance I get, I'll escape..._ She thought.

"How did that happen?" asked Vanilla.

"She gave me a chest massage and I gushed like the fountain of youth..."

"She milked you like a cow I see..."

"I'm pretty sure she didn't use the term without reason."

"So you can have sex with Cream, but you can't let her de-lactate you?"

_Why does everyone assume that if I can do one thing, anything is open...geez..._ Tails mentally complained. "Fine, fine...Just let me go pee first..." And Tails put her feet on the floor, stood up, but wobbled a bit before her ass landed back in the chair. Vanilla helped Tails to the bathroom and the fox took it from there.

After finishing her business, Tails came out of the bathroom. "Um, sorry about that. Guess I forgot just how much weight has been added down here..." She said, rubbing her belly.

"You forgot to wash." Vanilla scolded Tails.

Tails sighed and returned to the bathroom to quickly wash up. "My bad..." She said.

"Okay, I got you two pumps." said Cream. "Now you unload your stockpile."

Just at that moment, there were 7 raps at the door.

"I'll go and get the door, and you two set up in the room." said Vanilla.

Tails looks at Cream as Vanilla heads to the door. "So, which room? Bathroom? Your room?" She asked.

"My room." Cream answered.

"Okay." And Tails follows Cream into her room. The two get inside of the room. "Just a question, does it hurt when you use these?" asked Cream.

"No." Tails blushed.

"Well, lemme get that top of yours."

"Sure." Tails said.

_I wonder who is at the door._ thought Vanilla as she was ready to open the door.

"Yo, Shad, what brings you here?" Sonics' voice was clear.

"Not you again, don't you ever stop bothering me?" Shadow questioned Sonic.  
"Hey man, I came here to see if Tails is about, is that a problem."  
"Fine, then I'll take my leave..."

Vanilla opens the door to see both hedgehogs. "Look who's here. Come on in you two." she said. Sonic grins and makes his way inside, but the black hedgehog clearly is not comfortable going in with Sonic. "Come on in." said Vanilla. Shadow simply sighed and made his way inside. "Hey you two, hurry it up back there, we have company!" Vanilla yelled to the girls in the back.

"MOOOOO!!!!" Tails called in retaliation.  
"What in the..." Sonic questioned.

"Tails is top heavy at the moment." Vanilla explained.

"And she's mooing because...?" Sonic questioned.  
"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" Shadow said to Sonic.  
"Hey, I don't know what she gets up to in her spare time, never heard her moo before."  
"As if it was a 'serious' moo, bah, why do I put up with you?"  
"Because if you didn't, you wouldn't be known as the cockiest hedgehog on the planet."

"No, you're the cockiest, I'm the most arrogant."

"I now pronounce you hedgehog and hedgehog." joked Vanilla. "Now lemme go grab some rice."

Meanwhile in the room, Cream had gotten Tails top off, and the fox was currently sat on the bed in half her clothing. "Do I hear Shadow and Sonic? Just great, of all people to show up." She sighed.

"We can do this later if you want." offered Cream.

"No, no, might as well do it, otherwise I'll lactate later and most likely at the very worst of times." Tails smiled.

"Here you go." and Cream hands Tails the two breast pumps.

"You don't want to do it?"

"I can read body language, Tails. You obviously don't want me doing it, so I'll let you have your day."

"I'll admit I'm not entirely comfortable with others tweaking with my breasts, but that's only because mother nature has tweaked the 'sensitivity button' up ten fold and....It's embarrassing. My entire body goes week when I empty up."

"Well, hook up and let's get this over with. I mean before they come back here..."

Tails looks at the pump and smiles. "I'll admit that Rouge caught me off guard when she 'milked' me." And she stands up and takes Cream by the wrist, but not nastily, and places the pump in her hand. "But I trust you and like Vanilla said, we already went full way, so this should be fine. I want you to."

"If you say so." and Cream made sure Tails' torso met plastic. Tails retook her seat on the bed.

"So what brings you two here?" asked Vanilla.

"I came to check on Tails." Sonic said. "She's supposed to be staying with me and all, and I was just checking if this was the case or if she was now staying on the Ocean Tornado with Marine and Blaze, who told me to come here."

"And what about you, Shadow?"

"I came to talk to Cream, actually." Shadow replied.

"Well, sit tight for a while. And enjoy a few laps in Mario Kart."

"Aww, sweet!" And Sonic zipped over to the Wii and took up his controller.  
"I'll pass thanks..." Shadow folded his arms.  
"What's the matter Shadow, chicken?" Sonic teased.  
"Oh that does it!" And Shadow walked over and too up the other controller.

"Cream, hurry up with 'Betsy' back there!" yelled Vanilla. "That heifer shouldn't have given you that much problems!"

"Who's Betsy?" Sonic asked. "And Heifer? New friends?"

"Stop being an idiot on purpose." Vanilla said.

"Fine, fine, I'll stop acting oblivious." Sonic said. "I was trying to be funny."  
"Try harder." Shadow retorted.

"You two sound like a married couple." said Vanilla. This is where Sonic shuffled away from Shadow on the seat, and Shadow put the controller down and warped to the back of the room, leaned on the wall and folded his arms.  
"Looks like I win." Sonic said.

Tails and Cream came out of the room, Cream happily carrying the containers of milk, but Tails had a blush on her face and was rubbing her belly in a form of comfort to her own embarrassment.

"Ok, what happened back there?" asked Vanilla.

"I fell of the bed..." Tails said.

Sonic stood and walked over. "Not gonna ask." He said. "So, little buddy, you still staying at my place or are you happy located elsewhere?"

"Um, no, I'll come home tonight." Tails replied. "I just had a few things to do." Tails replied.  
"It's all good with me, so long as you're okay. All your things are at mine, that's all."

"I see." said Vanilla.

"It's your decision in the end, bud. I'll be happy to take your things anywhere."  
"Thanks Sonic." Tails smiled. Cream had just finished putting the milk in the freezer, and had also put the previous containers Vanilla brought out back as well, assuming the cake would be delayed, and then came back into the room. She looked at Shadow who motioned her to follow and then headed for the front door.

The two left the apartment and Shadow led Cream off away from the door toward a corner.

"So what can I help you with?" asked Cream.

"How are things for you and Tails working out so far?" Shadow asked.

"Better now. We managed to save ourselves from falling apart."

"Good. I want to make you a little deal, Cream." Shadow said.

"Um, okay..."

"I want some information, and I'll do you a favour if you keep this little chat to remain between us." Shadow said.

"So what's going on?"

"Do we have a deal or not?"

"Okay, deal. So what's going on?"

"I want to do something nice for Tails, but I don't know what. I have been given a few peices of advice from a couple of echidna, but I believe they're pulling my leg a little."

Cream had a sly grin. _So this is who Tails is trying to land..._ She thought. "What exactly did they say?" she asked Shadow.

"Twinkle Park was Tikal's suggestion. Somehow I got into a chat with Knucklehead about Twinkle Park and told him I had intentions of inviting Tails. He then gave me a few idea's that still to me seem like I'd be trying too hard." Shadow said.

"Like what?" asked Cream, her expression was intrigued.

"What are Tails favourite carnival themes, if she has any?"

"Themes... what do you mean by themes?"

"Tunes, songs, that kinda stuff."

"She really likes Merry Merry Unbirthday."

"So, Knuckles wasn't lying about that then." Shadow said. "Well, if you took her to Twinkle Park and it came to the point of food. What would you get for her?"

"That will be tricky since she's pregnant..."

"Talking cakes."

"Which cakes?"

"Let's just say you wanted cake, what cake would you get?"

"Well that all depends. If it's for myself, I would get a funnel cake. But Tails usually got a couple's cake for me."

"Knuckles said to get a couples cake. You see to me, that gives off the wrong idea."

"Why?"

"It's a 'couples' cake, it gives off the impression I'm trying too hard, but that's just my veiw on it."

"Are you trying to get under her bra at the park or something?"

"No." Shadow retorted. "I'm not very good at this sort of thing, so you must understand I'll see things a little differently than you 'social' people do."

I can teach you how to take a bra off if you want."

"Uhh...huh..." Shadow raised a brow. "You're convinced I just want Tails in sexual service now, don't you?"

"So you want to have sex with Tails?"

"Not on the top of my list." Shadow said.

"But, you wanna have sex with her?" Shadow didn't reply.

Cream shook her head. "I guess you don't want help after all..."

"Do I honestly have to answer that question?" Shadow asked. "Yes, that'd be something I might want. But only if she's willing, nothing more."

"I can't help if you won't be honest." Cream told Shadow. "And it isn't what you might want or might not want. You either do or don't... so which is it?"

"Fine, yes." Shadow said.

"At Twinkle Park?"

"No." Shadow looked at Cream. "Like I said, I'd want sex with Tails only if she'd want to as well. It's something I intend to earn. I'm not doing this to try and seduce her. I generally do love her and have already come to terms with that. I just want to make her happy."

Generally love and actual love are two different things." Cream pointed out. "Either way, you must be an idiot if you don't get your date a couple's cake.

"That's a rule, you don't eat that cake by yourself."

"I see." Shadow said. "And I'll admit if a lack of knowledge makes someone an idiot, then when it comes to this sort of thing, yes, I'd be an idiot. You do know that the closest person to me was Maria, and we weren't _that _close, and 50 years i spend frozen and haven't ever been on a real date, so you surely must see why I'm asking you this now, right? I want to make sure nothing goes wrong because I lack knowing what to do."

"That's what happens when you don't socialize with people." Cream shot.

"I didn't want to, remember?" Shadow said. "I didn't want to get close to people out of my own selfish reasons, and I've realised recently that I should stop that, so here I am, asking you for help."

"Of course. Well, what else do you have questions about?"

"I need to know some of Tails interests, besides machinery."

"That's a problem."

"You don't know, right?"

"I know, but you can't do those things with Tails because she's pregnant."

"I'm curious as to what these thing are..." Shadow lifted a brow curiously.

"Aside from G&G, Tails likes flying. She also like to travel, snowboard and of course... something that has to do with a whirlwind. Oh yeah, skydive. But her pregnancy keeps her from doing any of this."

"I see. Interesting hobbies." Shadow said. "But true, as fun as those sound, she is very limited, it sucks that Twinkle Park is going to be so bitchy and finical to even let her ride the Ferris wheel, hell, even that silly marry go whatchamacallit is off limits, why, I'll never know."

"Merry-go-Round. And of course she can't get on that or the Ferris Wheel. People have sex in the cars of the Ferris wheel..."

"And what's the excuse for the M-G-R?" Shadow stretched a little. "Actually, never mind. It's not like I'd want to ride that anyway." He said. "Thanks for the info, hopefully I should have enough to survive off of.

"I was told to let her win games as well, something I can tolerate, but I want a female view on this."

"How's your swimming?"

"I'm not Sonic."

"You're not answering my question either."

"My swimming is fine."

"Well, Tails likes to swim and she can swim to help her relax in the water. But I suggest a heated pool. Pregnant mothers shouldn't swim in cold water."

"Yes, Rouge decided to let me in on a little information I quite frankly didn't think I needed..."

"Like what?"

"Cold water doesn't do her chest justice."

"_I like how Tails' breasts look when they're perky._ Cold water doesn't do any girl's chest justice."

"Anyway, we should cut this chat short before someone comes looking for you in curiosity." Shadow said. "Thanks again for the information. I appreciate it."

"Good luck..."

"Thanks." Shadow said. _I'll need it, I think..._

_He's gonna need a lot more than this instead of just luck and advice._ Cream thought.

Cream and Shadow rejoin Tails, Vanilla and Sonic. "Tails, Shadow has something he wants to say to you." Cream told the fox.

"Really?" asked Tails. "Okay Shadow, I'm listening."

Shadow looks at Vanilla and Sonic who are also listening. _Meh, I don't care._ He thought.  
"I wanted to know if you'd like to go to Twinkle Park for a day out sometime." He said. Sonic then burst out laughing.  
"Shadow asking someone for a date, I've seen everything now!" He laughed.

Tails was taken aback. "You're... Shadow, you're asking me out on a date?" she questioned Shadow.

"Yes." Shadow replied, without hesitation. Sonic just laughed harder, so much so that he fell on his back in tears.

Vanilla kicked Sonic in the side. "Well Tails, Shadow's asking you out on a date." she said.

Sonic stood up, but couldn't help the odd giggle. "Sorry, Shad. I know how hard this must be for you to do. It just sounds so funny." Shadow simply ignored Sonic, focusing on Tails, awaiting her answer. Vanilla then smacked Sonic in the back of the head, hushing the hedgehog.

_I gotta hear this._ Thought Cream.  
"Shadow, I... I don't know what to say..." Tails said. "I'm touched... and no, it isn't Lavender. I mean I'm touched by this sudden change of heart."

"I understand if you don't want to." Shadow said.

"No, of course I'll go out with you. I mean, this is Twinkle Park." Tails said as she rubbed her belly. "I never turn down going to Twinkle Park, but I can't really ride anything in this state of my well being."

Shadow smiled. "I'm sure there are plenty of other fun things to do." Sonic actually was jaw dropped at this point.

"Is something wrong, Sonic?" Tails asked Sonic.

"Nothing...just...didn't expect the outcome." And Sonic snapped out of it. "Hey, I guess even I can be surprised." Then laughed again.

"Either that, or you're mad that Tails is dating Shadow before she'd date you." said Cream.

"Nah, not the case." Sonic replied.  
"So, Tails." Shadow said. "When's a good time or day for you?"

"Well, what are you up to today?" Tails questioned Shadow.

"I never have solid plans for anything; I generally just take my days as they come."

"Then let's go now."

"Sure." Shadow smiled again.  
"Nice one Shadow. Not only have you scored a date, you scored an immediate date." Sonic said.  
"You know, if you don't want to feel left out, you could always take Amy out."  
"No way." Sonic crossed his arms.

"You can always take Blaze or Marine." said Cream.

"Hmm..." And Sonic sped off.

"You two better go before he gets back with a date to double with you guys."

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea." Shadow said.

"You are too much." said Tails.

"Is that bad?"

"Not really."

"Okay." Shadow then walked up to Tails. "Well, anything you need to do before we go?"

"Nope, I'm good."

"Okay, let's go then." And Shadow offers Tails a hand.

Tails giggled and took the offered hand. _I hope I'm not boring in my state of body._ She thought.

Shadow then led Tails out of Vanilla's house and toward the elevator. _I hope this turns out okay. I wouldn't want to make her unhappy. _He thought.

With this, the rabbits saw them enter the elevator and saw the doors close. "So, do you think those two will have a good time?" asked Cream.  
"We'll see." Vanilla answered.  
"I wonder if she'll suck his dick."  
"CREAM?!"  
"What, Shadow needs a good blowjob..."


	19. Chapter 19

Tails and Shadow were walking through the city, heading towards Twinkle Park. Shadow was already lost for words it seemed. _Crap..._ He thought.  
"So...uh...what's your usual favourite thing in Twinkle Park?" Shadow asked.

"I can't do it." Tails answered.

"Taken down to what you can do, then."

"Not sure...."

"Hmm, we'll find out I guess." Shadow said. "Thanks, by the way. I didn't think you'd want to go with me."

"Well, at least you finally let your balls drop and decided to ask me." and Tails sticks out her tongue.

"Comes with it's benefits." Shadow grinned at Tails. "I just hope I don't screw up. I can be as fun as the next hedgehog; I just haven't tried it before. Might make an interesting change."

"And what about those benefits?"

"I'm more confident with myself."

"So you have self benefits?"

"If I have others, I'm not aware of them yet." Shadow said. "I want to make you happy, and I'll do my best to do that."

"Even if it means, riding me like a horse?"

Shadow then nearly fell over. "Excuse me?" He questioned.

"Answer the question." and Tails stuck out her tongue.

"My honest answer, if it would make you happy...yes." Shadow said, he did blush though.

"So what's the answer that makes you happy?"

"The same." Shadow scratched his head. _I hope honesty is not a bad idea..._ He thought.

_Vanilla was right, I should tease him._ thought Tails.

"So, uh...Where is Twinkle Park? As you know, I've not exactly been there." Shadow asked.

"It's across the street from the Emerald Coast Hotel." Tails answered. "We stand on the short elevator, walk through the tunnels and into the door."

"Fare enough." Shadow said. "So, what would you like to do first?"

"I'm not sure..."

"Hmm...Well, we could check out the games first, and go from there." Shadow suggested.

"To the games."

After a short while, the two get into Twinkle Park and have the look around. The ever youthful and joyous expression on Tails' eyes are priceless as Shadow walks with his date around the park.

The two were getting a few looks from people however. "Isn't that Shadow the hedgehog?" Someone asked.  
"It can't be, that uptight bastard would never come here, it goes against his nature." His friend replied.  
"Yeah, that's the cos-player Miley Inari, isn't it?" Another spoke.  
"That hedgehog must be another cos-player too."  
"Well, he certainly does resemble Shadow a lot." Were some comments flying around.

"Looks like we have a decent greeting." said Tails.

"Oddly enough, I don't have the urge to punch that guy in the face." Shadow said, talking about the one who indirectly insulted him.

"No fighting."

"I've no intention." Shadow smiled. "Would it be easier for you if everyone called you Tails?" He whispered to her.

"I'm pretty well as Miley." Tails whispered back. "So make sure you use a cosplay name if you're asked."

"Any ideas?"

"Fly one like I did."

"Hm...I'll think of something I guess." Shadow said. "So, Miley. Where do we go first?"

"Games... Wow, lost in wonder already." Tails said, and then giggled.

"I've never been here before." Shadow said.

The two entered the main games part of the park and Shadow looks around. "Plenty of things to do it seems. Any favourites?" He asked.

"Tic tag toe." said Tails.

"Isn't that a board game?"

"Fine, let's play darts." and Tails rolled her eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. We'll play whatever you like." Shadow apologised.

"Let's play darts."

"Okay." And the two walked up to the Darts game.

"Hey you two..." said the game vendor. "Well, look at you, Miley. How are you coming along?"  
"Pretty well, we're doing things fine."  
"And how's that baby in there?"  
"She's fine."  
"A girl huh? Congratulations."  
"Thanks."  
"So anyway, three darts for a dollar. Pop a balloon and win a prize..."

"Popping balloons, huh? Sounds easy enough." And Shadow takes the cash and pays up, getting 9 darts. "So, how many darts do you want to throw?" He asked Tails.

"I'm good." Tails answered. "You throw the darts."

"Are you sure?"

"You sound scared..."

"No, I just don't want to hog all the fun." Shadow said, taking a dart. "Does a specific colour get a specific prize or how does it work?" He asked the game vendor.

"Pop one balloon wins a small for three dart rounds." the vendor answered."Two balloons wins a medium and three balloons wins large." the vendor answered. "That's the system of the game."

Shadow then divides the 9 darts into sets of 3 each. "First three darts then." And he took a dart, threw it and popped a balloon, took a 2nd, threw it and popped another balloon and took the 3rd dart, threw it and with that the 3rd balloon was popped.

"I believe that would be a large, am I wrong?"

"Got a big one." said the vendor.

"My date can choose." Shadow smiled.

"So many to choose..." said Tails. "I want that one." and Tails points to a big red chao.  
"Nice choice." said the vendor and grabbed the chao for Tails.

Shadow looked at Tails. "Anything else in particular you'd like to have?" He asked. "Big, medium or small?"

"You can pick the next prize for yourself." Tails answered.

"Nothing really come of..." And Shadow looked at the prizes and saw one in particular.

"Hmm..." He uttered, took another set of darks and threw them towards the balloons, popping two, but the 3rd dart hit where a previous balloon was popped, clearly this was done on purpose. "I'll have the medium which looks like Tails." He said.

"Looks like you're both enjoying yourself." said the vendor and got the prize for Shadow.

"It's quite fun, yes." Shadow said, then looked at Tails again. "Last prize is yours, what size?"

"Oh, just throw the darts." Tails answered.

Shadow shrugged, took the darts into his hand and threw them all into the barrage of balloons. He'd managed to clear 3 balloons again.

"I guess this gift is for the baby?" asked the vendor.

"Hmm...Sure, why not." Shadow said. "Do you want to choose or shall I?" He asked Tails.

"No complaint from me." Tails answered.

Shadow looked up at the larger prizes and spotted one in particular, which was seemingly hiding behind the others. "That white giant Chao, isn't that an Angel Chao or am I mistaken?" He asked.

"You want that one?" asked the vendor.

"I do."

The vendor grabbed the prize and true to the guess, it was the chaos angel chao. "I'm sure the daughter will be happy to have this one."

Shadow smiled and took the prize. "I hope so."

"Have fun you two."

And the two take their prizes and walk off. "That was surprisingly fun." Shadow said.

Tails asked. "It's not so bad, huh?"

"Do you like your prize?"

"Stiglin is a good chao."

"Stiglin?"

"Forgot about Stiglin already?"

Stiglin...Stiglin...Oh yeah, I remember now." Shadow said.

"And what did Stiglin do?"

"It floated behind whoever bonded with it." Shadow replied.

"Is that a 'no'?"

"I'm not sure I get where you're going with this..." Shadow said, "I vaguely remember Stiglin, but probably because you gave me the name and knowing he's a red chao. But not much else, sorry."

"See and I was gonna let you play with me too..."

Shadow sighed. "Sorry. So where to now then?"

"I'm hungry."

"Well, let's head for some eats then."

"Hee hee..." and Tails giggled.

"Oooh, wait a moment, wasn't Stiglin one of the chao that You and Sonic picked up during the Nocturnus incident?" Shadow asked.

"It was one of the forty regular ones." Tails answered.

"I see." Shadow said. "So, what would you like to eat?"

"Not picky, but don't make it spicy." Tails answered

"Hmm..." Shadow thought. And the two headed off out of the games section and headed for eats, finding a nice little quiet place. Upon entering the two got a few more looks, both the admiration in the sense of not just cosplayers, but one was pregnant and the odd look that Shadow was here. "Looks like they make Pizza in here, could always get one of those, if you want." Shadow suggested.

"As long as it isn't spicy." said Tails.

"Could always get a meaty BBQ and ask to hold the pepperoni."

"Or just get regular pepperoni."

"Isn't pepperoni spicy in a sense?"

"Fine, get mushrooms instead of pepperoni."

"Okay." Shadow said. "I'll grab the order and you can get us some seats, okay?"

"Already see a table."

"Okay, I'll see you over there." Shadow said, smiling at Tails.

Tails walks over to take the table and Shadow gets in the 2 person line for the order. As he waited, he went into thought. _Damn it...This has barely started and I already feel like I'm screwing up...I'm not any good at this sort of thing, I just hope I'm not boring her or annoying her..._ He thought. Shadow finally got to the counter and since the staff was currently busy with orders he simply leaned on the side and side, whilst he was waiting.

Shadow finally got served, made the order and then went to wait with Tails. After taking his seat he looked at Tails. "I'm not boring you, am I?" He asked.

"No, but you need work on dating skills." Tails answered.

"That's true. I guess I should have done that before."

"Uh huh."

"Sorry." Shadow said. "I've never done this before, so I don't know exactly what it is I'm supposed to do. I figured that if I could make a fun day everything would work out. But I guess there's more to it than that, huh?"

"Dating is funny." Tails told Shadow. "Having fun is part of your date, but the point is to make sure you and your date are enjoying yourself without making either of you feel uncomfortable. Listen to your partner... they'll tell you what is going on."

"I heard that you tend to get cake from here at some point before leaving." Shadow said. "I am enjoying myself, I just feel I'm letting you down a bit."

"_Do more listening to me then._ Go on."

"Do you mind if I got to know you a little better? I've never really spoken to you about yourself really. I know only basic knowledge that everyone knows."

"Good point." said Tails. "Well, start with what you do know about me."

"I know you're a scientific genius who can, as far as I am now concerned, invent anything. I'm also now aware of your love for Twinkle Park and having been here even only a short time, I can see why." Shadow said. "Let's see...." Shadow thought for a minute. And whilst he was thinking, he briefly hummed the theme Merry Merry unbirthday. After about 30 seconds though he stopped. "That's all I know." He said.

"Maybe we should have a tea party." joked Tails.

"I think we'd get strange looks even more so if we started singing that song." Shadow laughed a bit, scratching his head. "It'd liven the place up though."

"I see."

"So, those are the interests I already know." Shadow said, returning to the previous topic.

"I like to swim." Tails said.

"Ironic, since Sonic can't stand the water." Shadow said.

"He doesn't like water, but will tolerate it if he has to."

"We could always go swimming if you'd like. I don't mind water at all."

"My Lamaze teacher probably wouldn't mind me doing a bit of swimming."

"How were those classes, anyway?" Shadow asked.

"Not so bad. There's someone in there that reminds me of you... except he's a fox."

"In the sense of arrogant prick?"

"In the sense of not giving a damn and being stubborn."

"I see." Shadow said. "Sounds like if I were to meet him, we'd have an ego competition."

"Or manage to go out for drinks."

"Hmm..." And Shadow shrugged. "Who knows."

By this time, the pizza had arrived, the waitress bowed and left the two to their meal.

Shadow smiled and passed the desired object over, taking his own plate; he took a slice of the pizza and took a bite, before putting it on the plate. "Not bad." He said.

Tails shook the cheese on the rest of the pizza and placed the shaker on the table. Then took her own slice of the pizza. "I wanna ask how you can enjoy destruction and being a lone wolf so much?"

"I don't necessarily enjoy destruction, i just end up destroying. And I'm not nessicerily fond of being a lone wolf. I explained it earlier, out of my own selfish reasons, I didn't want to get attached to anyone." Shadow said, before taking another bite.

"So what suddenly had you attach yourself to me?"

"That I....I just don't know." Shadow said. "It started that night we went looking for Sonic and I carted you around. I had fun for the first time since my last epic race with Sonic. Then we spoke and I took you back, then you teased me in front of everyone and I felt this odd feeling, at the time I thought it was simply some form of anger or feeling of mockery and tried to ignore it. Then it just kept coming back and I gradually became more protective of you. Then everyone began throwing suspicions that I had a crush on you. Despite my wanting to convince myself it wasn't true. In the end, I figured out that...I love you. And now, I just want to keep loving you. I'm not sure how else to explain it."

"Oh." Tails was at a loss for words.

"It's a weird feeling for me, not having a similar one since Maria, and I'm sure when it was Maria it was simply a feeling of siblings than true love. I'm not sure, but I think the feeling is stronger with you. So, I decided that even if you never felt the same way for me, I'd always watch over you."

"So this is a brother/sister love deal then?"

"No." Shadow said. "Like I said, when i had a feeling similar to the one with Maria, it was probably more a brother/sister love. For you, well...In all honesty, when I kissed you in town, I just wanted to do it again. I loved it, and loved you. I've never had an urge to hold someone so much than with you that it's almost like an ache that isn't going to go away until I hold you, kiss you....love you." Shadow scratched his head, beginning to become embarrassed to what he was saying. "For a long while, I thought I simply wanted to protect you, so despite the fact people were already looking after you, I kept watch from a distance. I only realised later that i didn't want to just protect you...I wanted to be near you, to be loved by you."

"Ok..."

Shadow shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry; I guess I am making you uncomfortable." He said.

"I see."

_Perhaps I said too much..._ Shadow thought. "Let's just finish our meal and continue the day." And Shadow finished the slice of pizza. _Way to go, making a fool of yourself again. _He mentally cursed himself.

"Yup, you're nervous." said Tails and grabbed another slice of pizza.

Shadow and Tails finished their food and Shadow gave a stretch. "That was a nice meal." He said. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Somewhat." Tails answered.

"Well, how about we head back to the games and play around some more?" Shadow suggested. "I am curious to try that Slam Bell game."

"Let's." said a happy Tails. "Um... little help here?"

Shadow smiled, stood up and walked around the table and offered Tails a hand, helping her up. He looks at her face after doing so. "You know, you're really cute this close." He said. "I never took the time to notice, but your eyes make you picture perfect, did anyone ever tell you that?"

"Well, not like that." Tails said, somewhat embarrassed.

"Come, let's go." And Shadow led Tails to the counter, paid for the meal and the two left and headed back to the games section.

The two entered the games section again and Shadow looked around. "Where's that hammer game..?" He questioned himself. Then saw it. "Looks like the line is lacking over there. Shall we hit it early to avoid longer lines later?"

"Why not, but I can't go too fast." Tails answered.

"Naturally, but it's not too far away." And the two head over. "We never finished our conversation I don't think. You like to swim, but do you have any other interests?"

"You mean besides machinery?" asked Tails. Shadow nods.

"I like to fly, but pregnancy prohibits that. Swimming is pretty much one of the things I can do. Everything else is compromised."

"I see." Shadow said. "Well, I guess we'll have to see if we can swim sometime." And the two arrived at the game, only 4 customers arrived before them, but it wasn't a long wait and no one was able to hit the bell.

_I bet I know someone who could hit the bell._ Thought Tails.

The two approached. "Uh, sorry, pregnant women can't use this game." The vendor said.  
"What makes you think she's the one playing?" Shadow asked.

Tails' ears drooped. "You don't have to be mean about it." said Tails. "I know I'm pregnant and pregnant mothers can't do anything, but I don't need you to remind me about feeling like crap." and Tails starts to cry. "I thought all of the vendors would be nice and be supportive... but I didn't think you could be so mean." and Tails burst into tears.

Shadow then glared at the vendor who sweat dropped. "Uhh...I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything mean, I just..." He stuttered. Shadow hugged Tails a little.  
"I'm sorry." He said. "Look, perhaps we can arrange something if you want to use it, I could support you or something, cheer up, okay?" He tried to sooth the unhappy fox.

"No, I don't wanna'." Tails answered through her tears. "I wanna go to another game." and Tails continued to cry.

"Okay, we'll do that. Just a moment." And Shadow walked over to the vendor, gave him a small bag of money and took the hammer.  
"Hey, you paid too much." The vendor said.  
"Actually that should cover it." Shadow said, he lifted the hammer above his head and slammed it down as hard as he could, the knock went up, slammed into the bell and then knocked it off, flying into the air, luckily though, they both went for Shadow and he caught both pieces and no one was hurt. He took the bell and the knock to the vendor, gave them to him and took Tails hand and walked off.

Shadow and Tails walked through the not quite so busy crowds and Shadow wrapped his arm around Tails and gently rubbed her shoulder. He looked around for another game, before looking at Tails.

"I hope he gets fired..." said Tails, still shedding her tears.

"He can't make much business with his game broken." Shadow replied, rubbing Tails shoulder still. "I feel bad for the other customers who wanted to play the game though."

"Well, let's try something else, I don't wanna do any games at the moment. Can we catch a show?"

"Absolutely." Shadow said. "Which way do we find one?"

"Choose one, please..."

And Shadow looked around. _Hmm...signs most likely will show me the way. _He thought. Then, as if on cue he noticed a 'You are here' sign and followed it to the media section, and there were plenty of shows about. After going past 4 types of shows, one caught his eye. "Hey Tails, check this out. Chao in Space: The ARK Incident... You think they reinacted what happened during the ARK incident?"

"Which incident?" asked Tails.

"The Biolizard." Shadow said. "My awakening."

"Oh, I see. I figured as much..."

"It'd be interesting to see what the people on earth think really happened, it could be fun." Shadow said. "So, how about we check this one out. If you don't like it, we'll simply find another."

"Well, it is in regards to Chao.... Okay, let's see it."

The two enter the place and look around, it appeared this event was mildly popular as there were people all over. Shadow and Tails walked over to an empty stall.  
"Hello and welcome to Chao in Space: The Ark Incident. This is a live re-enactment with specially trained Chao. Would you like some tickets?" The woman behind the desk smiled.  
"It's done live?" Shadow questioned.  
"Yes sir."  
"I see. I thought the Chao In Space was a movie series."  
"Only the original concepts, but here at Twinkle Park, the performances are live."  
"Hmm, two tickets then please."  
"Yes sir."

_Live action, this should be interesting._ Thought Tails.

Shadow took the tickets and paid up, then gave one ticket to Tails. "Let's pick up some snacks for the show." He said. "It's all on me, so have whatever you want, okay?"

"I'm not hungry." Tails said.

"Hm, okay, not even a drink?"

Tails sighed. "I guess I could get a bottled water."

"Sure." Shadow said. He wondered over, got himself a soda and Tails a bottled water, and then returned, the two got into the show, the lights were still on, but the two had assigned seats. Luckily for them the seats were close up, but still had a good view on the stage. "This will be interesting." Shadow said. _Hopefully it'll be cute or funny enough to cheer Tails up. _Tails gave no reply, but rubbed her belly. She was clearly bummed out from the vendor and decided to place her Stiglin Chao doll in front of her.

After waiting for 13 minutes, the place had packed up and the lights dimmed, the only lights on at the time were the ones on the stage. "Looks like it's about to begin." said Shadow.  
"About time." Said Tails.

The crowd quietened and some Chao garden music began to play. On stage came out a yellow mongoose with long purple hair and she was in a big blue Chao outfit. She took her microphone and began talking.  
"Hello and welcome to Chao in Space: The Ark Incident. My name is Mina Mongoose. Before I begin, I would like to assure you that this performance is indeed performed by Chao and that we cannot guarantee the same show every time. These cute little fella's are adorable even when they decide to 'alter' their parts a little. I was the one who personally raised and trained many of the Chao you'll see today. I wish you all a great show, please enjoy Chao In Space: The Ark Incident!" And she bowed and walked off, with applause.

With that, music began to play and the curtain's closed momentarily, motion could be seen behind the curtains, and it was only 2 minutes before the curtain's opened, the background had changed to a City and before long a well shaped, well designed cardboard helicopter came onto stage from the side, it was small and at the base the little Chao feet could be seen moving it. The copter stopped and some lines were spoken over a microphone. Clearly it was someone from G.U.N reporting, but not much was too apparent. Then came the moment the G.U.N member began panicking about the 'cargo' and soon after, the door on the helicopter opened and out ran a pure blue bred Sonic Chao. which came on stage eagerly and threw his arms into the air.  
"CHAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOO!!!" He called.

The Sonic Chao received aww's and applause and then proceeded to use his speed to run around in circles. Before long, more Chao came on stage, these ones were all dressed up in cute little suits to resemble the G.U.N forces and chased the Sonic Chao.  
"Chao! Chao! Chao!" all the Chao called as they enjoyed their game of chase. Eventually, another Chao appeared, in a cardboard made suit and the Sonic Chao pushed it over. The Chao was okay however and stayed on the ground. From the side came a pure breed black Shadow Chao with perfect quills which were red in colour. He leaped up onto the 'robot' Chao and called to the Sonic Chao.  
"Chaaooo." He called. This made Shadow sweat drop.

Some dialogue was spoken to re-enact the scene where Sonic first met Shadow, and the Chaos then 'used' Chaos Control, which was just lights and him speeding away. At this point, the Sonic Chao was caught by the G.U.N Chao and the curtains closed. More motion behind the curtains.  
"Interesting..." Shadow said. "They actually did a good job on the Chao raising." Tails nods.

The curtains opened up and on stage came a rare Chao model. It was a pure bred Tails Chao which had all the features, though the tails were questionable on whether they were real or not. The background was that of an island, Prison Island to be exact and the Tails Chao ran forth. It wasn't long before the Tails Chao ran off stage and 3 more Chao, including the Shadow Chao, came onto the stage. One was a white Chao, costumed to look like Rouge and an orange Chao costumed to look like Dr Eggman, which looked hilarious.

"Wait a minute, that part wasn't right." Tails whispered to Shadow.

"Hm, indeed. If I'm not mistaken, I should have been glomped by Amy and then you came in." Shadow whispered back. And as if on cue, in came a pink Chao in a cute red dress which glomped the Shadow Chao and the ball above her head turned into a heart.  
"Chaaaooo!" She said as she snuggled Shadow Chao. However, the Shadow Chao was much more violent than it should have been as it forcefully shoved the Amy Chao to the ground, but she was okay. It was at this point more dialogue, which was actually accurate, so clearly someone who had been there knew what was said and remembered must have told them. The Shadow and Rouge Chao leave and the Eggman Chao chases Amy Chao a little, then Tails Chao comes into the mix again and engages in Chao karate with the Eggman Chao.

Tails giggled at this sight. _How cute...._ she thought.

However, it appeared that there was a fatal mistake as Eggman Chao hit Tails Chao hard, knocking him over and made him cry. Mina Mongoose then appeared on stage in her Chao suit, gave the Tails Chao a pat on the head, then gave him a coconut to eat. She walked up on stage and took a mic again.  
"I do apologise for the confusion, it seems Lil' Eggy got carried away. The actual result of this match I believe resolved in Tails not backing down, eventually driving Eggman to the point of retreat. Thank you for your understanding." and off she walked.

"Yeah, Eggman got the win come round two." said Tails and then pouts, sticking out her bottom lip.

"He did?" Shadow asked. "You mean on the ARK?"

"That's how he got the yellow emerald." and Tails folded her arms. "I won't ruin it for you though..."

"Hm, I was fighting Sonic at the time, I believe." Shadow said.

And the Tails Chao finally recovered, but went to sleep, causing a laugh. Mina came on stage again. "Oh noo...Silly Tea, come on, wake up. You're performing..." She said to the Chao, shaking him slightly. This got more giggles from the crowd.

_That's funny._ Tails thought and finally cracked a smile.

Eventually, Mina woke the Tails Chao up and the performance continued. Tails Chao ran off stage with Amy Chao and the curtain closed, the backdrop was changed and the curtains opened, Tails Chao and Amy Chao ran in and Sonic Chao was in a cage. More inaccurate dialogue and incorrect events happened, considering Tails wasn't actually at the prison cell at the time. Sonic Chao was released and ran off. The backdrop was changed after another curtain call and the next scene was a forest, Sonic Chao ran in and then Shadow Chao ran in, the two engaged in the 2nd Chao karate bout. However, the Chao were just as stubborn as their original counterparts as they refused to give in to each other.

"Good to know they captured my stubborn side too." Shadow chuckled.

"This performance has one plot hole so far." said Tails.

"Go on."

"Tails got a hug from Amy."

"I see."

"Rouge's part is the plot hole."

"Is that so? Because she was sent to find the Chaos Emeralds, right?"

Tails nods, and nearby people shushed the two.

Eventually, the two Chao were so exhausted that the fell over. After a few minutes, they got up and ran off. The crowd were given more dialogue and the curtains closed. This time however a small white Chao resembling no one came out in the front of the curtains, and pulled up a cardboard which had drawings on them. The pictures were projected onto the curtains as well and were reasonably clear. It told the tale of what happened on Prison Island, that Shadow had rescued Rouge with the Chaos Emeralds and Sonic, Tails and Amy escaped before the explosion took Prison Island down under. It then showed the reminiscence, with dialogue, the Eggman ploy to use the Chaos Emeralds to destroy the planet if his demands were not met, then the Chao walked off and the curtains opened. The backdrop was the city again, and Tails Chao ran in, chased by G.U.N Chao. After this comical run around, the Chao ran off, and the show continued.

The next part of interest was when the story of the heroes were at Eggman's pyramid base and it showed a pure bred Knuckle Chao and the Rouge Chao running around trying to pick up more cardboard keys bigger than they were than the other, which brought some comical moments when they crashed into each other and scattered the 'keys', then engaged in a pre-mature fight, which had to be broken up by Mina.

"They actually do match the way Knuckles and Rouge really are." Shadow chuckled again. "It's kind of cute, really."

"I had a funny thought, but I won't say now." said Tails as she squeezed her Stiglin Chao doll.

"I'll ask later." Shadow said.

The show continued after Mina cooled the Chao down. Sonic Chao, Tails Chao and Amy Chao appeared as Rouge Chao left. Then a Chao ran in wearing a blanket with cute black eye holes, but the amusing thing is, the ghost Chao made Knuckles Chao cry in terror.

"Boo!" Tails cried. Tails got a few glances, but the others thought it worked with the legless ghost Chao and made Boo sounds. Tails shook her head. _Knuckles didn't run from the ghost, this is a plot hole._ She thought to herself.

The Ghost Chao ran up to Knuckles Chao, which only frightened him more, making him flee off stage in terror. This of course was a major problem in the performance as the other Chao got all confused and the lot of them started crying. Mina had to come back on stage, bowed to the audience and the curtain closed. She then shuffled around in the back and walked out. "I am sorry again for the confusion. This doesn't happen often. We will be taking a 5 minute break, so please use the bathroom, pick up some refreshments or anything you wish and we will return in 5 minutes. Thank you for your co-operation." and she returned back behind the curtains, the wailing of the Chao can still be heard.

"I'm actually amused. The fact it's not a perfect performance makes it all the more enjoyable." Shadow said.

"Y-yeah... I'm gonna need a bit of help." said Tails.

Shadow stood up and helped Tails out of the chair. "So, are you feeling better now?" He asked.

"Gotta use the can."

"Of course." And Shadow took Tails by the hand and led her out of the show-room and toward the main halls, the toilets were in sight and Shadow looked at Tails. "So, want me to pick you up anything?" He asked.

"You're not going anywhere." said Tails. "I'm gonna need help for this one."

Shadow blushed slightly. "Uh...okay?" He said, his tone changed as he sweat dropped.

"Come on." Tails took Shadow by the hand and into the halls. The two stood in front of the "family" restroom and Tails knocked on the door. There was no response, and after a ten second wait, the two went inside.

Three minutes afterwards, Tails and Shadow exit the "family" restroom holding their stuff. "I feel better now." said Tails. "Thanks for helping me out in there."

"Uh...Not a problem." Shadow smiled, scratching his head. "Anyway, would you like anything to eat yet, a snack or something?"

"Three corndogs." Tails answered.

Shadow nodded and the two walked over to the counter and got the order, Shadow got 2 himself, and the two went back into the show room and reclaimed their seats, it was another minute or so before the show was to continue.  
"I'm enjoying this time with you." Shadow said to Tails.

"Likewise." said Tails. "So, about those corndogs..."

Shadow takes the three corndogs of Tails and passes them over to her. "Enjoy." he said.

Tails takes her corndogs. "These aren't for me, I'm still full from the pizza." and bites the first one.

"I see." Shadow said.

Mina came back onto stage. "Welcome back everyone, sorry about the problems. We'd like to continue the show, i hope you had a nice break, so let the show continue!" and off she walked. The curtains opened and on screen was a space ship, most likely the colony ark. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy Chao had some dialogue and Knuckles Chao ran off, then Sonic and Tails Chao ran off the other side, the curtains closed with Amy Chao still there. The next opened to see Knuckles and Rouge Chao repeating the same thing from before, only this time it was master emerald cardboard cut outs. The two ended up crashing into each other and getting into round two. This lasted until Knuckles Chao hurt Rouge Chao, making her cry, but gave her a hug which cheered her right up.

This got some coos from the audience and a long echo of aww. The curtain's closed and opened to the next scene, Tails, Amy and Eggman Chao were in a room, then Sonic Chao came in and ran up to the front of the stage, lifted his hands in the air yelling.  
"Chaaaaaaaoooooo!!!" Then he turned around, ran back and stood next to Tails Chao. More dialogue came and Sonic Chao walked into the middle of the room. Amy Chao then smiled happily, her bob turned into a heart and she walked over to Sonic Chao and sat in front of him, oddly enough, flowers bloomed around her, but Sonic Chao backed away.

"Now that... aside from the forward invite is typical Amy and Sonic." Tails said, then giggled. Shadow burst out laughing, quickly being hushed by people and had to restrain himself, but his chuckles, though minimal weren't to stop any time soon.

After Mina had to intervene again to stop the 'mating season' of Amy Chao, the show continued. Eggman Chao ran off stage and came back in with a plastic tube with holes, big enough to cover Sonic Chao and slammed him into it, and then Sonic Chao was carefully lowered into the stage. After this, Amy Chao ran off crying, (probably due to the fact she was denied her mating season, but it fit) and Tails and Eggman Chao engaged into battle number two. This time the both of them ended up on their little bums crying. Tails folded her arms. _Well, I can't complain about this outcome._ she thought.

After another quite intervention, the next scene appeared, Sonic and Shadow Chao in their second bout, but Shadow Chao got violent and beat Sonic Chao up, where he had to be removed from stage.  
"That Chao makes me look like a total asshole..." Shadow sweat dropped.

"But you did lose that match... right?" asked Tails.

"Perhaps so." Shadow said. "Sonic just got enough leverage on me to get away."

"Oh."

"Me and Sonic have never really had a time where there was a real deciding winner."

And the show continued. The curtains closed and another spotlight picture show dictated the last major event, Dr Gerald's Message, the ARK's fall and the curtains opened once more to show Shadow Chao with a Chao that looked like he was dressed up like a Chinese dragon, which got giggles. Shadow Chao knocked him over and then the curtains closed for the semi-last time. The next time they opened, Sonic Chao and Shadow Chao had been replaced by a golden and silver Chao counterpart to represent their super forms. They had a karate moment each with the 'Dragon' Chao and then the curtains closed. The story mentioned about Shadow falling to the planet after the ARK was put back into orbit and the curtains closed and opened, the Chao Music playing again, Mina appeared in her Chao suit, and all the Chao that too part came on stage and started bowing and then dancing and doing normal Chao things.  
"Thank you so much for watching our show! We hope you enjoyed it, please come again! Thank you!" And with one final bow, and the applause, the curtains closed to end the show.

"The Amy chao seemed a lot happier at the end if you asked me." said Tails. "But that was about 35% accurate."

"Well, what can you expect?" Shadow asked. "The general public don't know the full story, but it was still very amusing." He stood up, then offer Tails a hand to help her get up as well.

"It would've been funny to see some Chao porn. The Chao dressed up like the bad doctor nailing the Amy Chao, that would've been priceless."

"That would have been funny." Shadow said. "Then again, Amy Chao wanting to mate with Sonic Chao in the middle of the performance was pretty funny in itself."

"Amy Chao has more guts towards Sonic Chao then Amy does with Sonic."

"Really? I thought it was pretty accurate until recently." Shadow replied. After helping Tails up, he took her by the hand and the two headed out of the show room.

"At least I feel better now."

"Good." Shadow said. "I prefer it when you're happier." He then leaned over and brushed his nose on her cheek gently, a little tease.

"I was thinking about how funny it would've been if the Chao dressed up as Rouge got nailed by the Knuckle Chao..."

"I see." Shadow said. "Hmm...that would have been funny, yes." Shadow chuckled.

"Well, let's go enjoy some more stuff. And you pick this time."

"Sure." Shadow said. And the two wondered off into the park.

After a good 5 minutes of walking, the two stumbled across a Chao Garden, it had its own vendor where you could 'hire' a Chao to play with. Shadow and Tails didn't do that right away though, they just wondered into the big open garden. "So, let's relax here, okay?" Shadow suggested.

"Sure, I could use a break." Tails agreed

Shadow led Tails over to a bench and the two had a seat, Shadow stretched slightly and looked over the garden. "So, how's Lavender doing right now?" He asked.

"She's content with the three corndogs." Tails answered.

"That's good. It's nice to see her so healthy." Shadow said, before giving Tails belly a gentle pat, before keeping his hands to himself afterwards. "This is nice."

"Yeah."

"It's good to know you fixed things with Cream too. She looks happier now."

"Yeah, we had to save what we have going."

"Of course." Shadow said. _Let's see if she notices. _"Hey Tails." Shadow started. "If I said you had a nice body, would you hold it against me?" He smiled teasingly at her.

"What's so nice about my body to you?" Tails' expression turned intrigued.

"Everything about you is nice, it's difficult to explain. I think you're a very beautiful girl." Shadow replied. "And you're soft as well, one of my favourite features."

"Wow! I really don't know what to say..."

"I feel for you, Tails. And I'm going to make sure you know just how beautiful and lovely you are." Shadow told the fox.

"Awww....." Tails was close to melting.

"You're a very beautiful girl, Tails. And as far as I am concerned, it doesn't matter what you're wearing, or what you're doing, you'll always be the prettiest thing I'll ever see." Shadow added. "Never let anyone tell you otherwise, because you are crystal, full of beauty."

"So it doesn't matter what I do, I'm still the prettiest thing you'll ever see?" Shadow simply nods. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Shadow said.

_It's times like these I wish I had a good fart ready._ Tails thought.

_She's not going to try and prove me wrong, i hope. Not that it matters, I won't change my mind._ Shadow thought.

_Dammit, I can't fart even if I tried. I can't even belch._ Shadow smiled at Tails.

"So, where to next?"

"I'm happy here for now, but if you want to go somewhere else, we could go back to the games." Shadow replied.

"Not picky."

"Well, let's stay here just a bit longer, and then we'll go see what other games they have." Shadow said. "After that, if you're hungry, we can always go for cake. How does that sound?"

"Sure that can..." Then Tails noticed some familiar faces. "Hey! Muri! Kirika! Over Here!" and Tails called out to them.

Kirika looked over and was patting Muri down, who appeared to be lying curled up, as she had said previously. After some help, Muri was on her feet and the two walked over.  
"Good morning, Miley. How nice to see you." Kirika said, and then noticed Shadow. "Is this your child's father? Or is he just your boyfriend?" She asked Tails.

"We're dating." Tails answered. "Is she doing okay?"

"I...I'm fine." Muri said. She bowed to Shadow. "I-It's nice to meet you, Mr." Muri said.  
"Likewise." Shadow replied.  
"So, having a fun little date in twinkle park, how cute. You two are picture perfect." Kirika smiled.

"Thanks. It's nice to see you at peace, Muri. We have to be brave, you know?"

"I-I know." Muri said. "I got...worried...a lot."

"Look at it this way, we can give each other strength."

"Yeah, that's true." Muri said.  
"So, how has the date been so far?" Kirika asked, curious.  
"It's had its ups and downs, but overall, I've been enjoying myself." Shadow replied.

"That Chao in Space 4 show cheered me up after a bad experience." Tails added.

"Ooohh, what happened?" Kirika asked.

"We saw you earlier and you were crying..." Muri said.  
"We knew it was that vendor, what did he do?" Kirika asked. "I know a lot of people were yelling at him. One guy even punched him in the face."  
"Then security came though..." Muri added.

"He made fun of me for being pregnant." Tails answered.

"That's just not on..." Kirika said.  
"Yeah. Um, Kirika, why did you lie?" Muri asked. This had Shadow lifting an eye brow. "You were the one who punched him and if it wasn't for everyone explaining, we would have been escorted off the premises." Kirika then scratched her head and let out a nervous laugh.  
"Oh yeah..." She chuckled.

"Oh...." said Tails.

"So, what was the Chao movie like?" Kirika asked.  
"It looked so cute, but we weren't sure it was any good, so we didn't go." Muri said.

"Funny." Tails answered.

"The fact that it was live made it all the more amusing." Shadow said.  
"It was live?" Kirika asked.  
"That means we can't see it now?" Muri questioned Kirika.  
"It might be on frequently, you might still have a chance to see it." Shadow said.

"Hm, we'll we better go and see then. Oh! That reminds me, there's a special offer on the couples cake today. 50% off if you are judged a cute couple." Kirika said. "I think you'd both fit perfectly."

"Thanks." Shadow smiled.

"See you two next class." said Tails.

"Oh, absolutely." Kirika said. "Be safe now, and excuse me...Mr...." Kirika dragged, not knowing Shadow's 'name'.  
"Daichi." Shadow said.  
"Daichi. Go easy on her, okay? All ladies must be treated with the up most respect."  
"You don't have to worry about that." Shadow said. "I promise to take good care of Miley."  
"Farewell for now."  
"See you later, Miley." And Muri bowed, and the girls left the two.

Tails took a look at her pregnant friend. _Wow, Muri looks like she can barely waddle._ she thought.

"Something on your mind?" Shadow asked.

"Muri looks really big for 22 days pregnant." Tails answered.

"22 days?" Shadow questioned. "You're joking, right? I'd say she was near enough at her pregnancy peek from her size, but maybe it is her size that is what makes it seem that way. She is a small girl."

"Vanilla said that rabbits only gestate for a month."

"Poor girl, not much time to prepare at all really." Shadow said.

"That's why when Cream gets pregnant; we'll be as supportive as possible."

"Indeed." Shadow nodded. "So, shall we head onto the games? Or does cake sound better?"

"Cake." Tails answered.

Shadow stood up, then offered a hand to Tails. "Let's go then." He smiled. He helped Tails up, and the two headed off in search of the cake shop.

After finding it, the two looked at the sign, and it said the same thing as Kirika. '50% off the Couples cake for cute couples.'  
"Shall we get that cake then?" Shadow asked Tails.

"Yeah." Tails nods.

The two enter the place and the staff bow and great them happily.  
"My, my, another happy couple." Said one of the girls. "And parents-to-be to boot. Would you like to order the couples cake? If you get 2 out of 3 yes's or more from us voting as a cute couple, you get 50% off the cake."

"Okay, we can try for that." Shadow said.  
"Well, i already think you're a cute couple, so I'm saying yes." The first girl said.  
"I might say yes, if you kiss your boyfriend for us." The second girl said.  
"Oooh, that sounds so cute. If you did that, I'd also guarantee a yes." The last girl giggled like a school girl.

Tails simply grabs Shadow and plants one on him. _No tongue, but a sweep gives bragging rights._ thought the fox.

Shadow kisses Tails back and the girls all squeal with delight. "Wow, they actually did it. Well, you got our votes." The second girl said. "We'd demand more, but a deals a deal." And the first girl went out back and came out with a freshly baked couples cake. After paying for it, Shadow took it to a table with Tails.  
"Wow, I hope that happens more often." Shadow chuckled.

"Kiss cam moments, or cake?" asked Tails.

"Kiss." Shadow replied with a smile.

"Oh."

"Cake's good too, but I enjoyed that." Shadow said.

"I see." and Tails forks a piece of cake. "Now open wide." Shadow blinked for a moment, but obeyed. Tails ended up feeding Shadow the piece of cake, then giggled. "So, what do you think?"

Shadow ate the cake somewhat slowly, almost savouring its taste and then swallowed. "Whoa, what's that made of?" he asked. "It's great." Shadow took a fork himself, put it into the cake. "My turn." He said, with a smile.

"Ah." And Shadow fed Tails the cake.

"It's like eating a piece of heaven, isn't it?" He said to her.

Tails swallowed her piece of couple's cake. "I've eaten this before, Shadow. So I'm accustomed to its flavour."

"That is true." Shadow said.

"And now, you're savvy on how to eat couple's cake."

Shadow opened up again, being fed the cake, and the two continue to do this for a while, just feeding the cake to each other.

_I didn't think I'd enjoy this so much. I almost wish it would never end. I wish we could always be like this._ Shadow thought, before feeding Tails another piece of cake.

_It's good to know "Daichi" is enjoying himself._ Thought Tails. Eventually the two had finished the cake.  
"That was great." Shadow said, smiling happily. It was an odd sight to see Shadow so genuinely happy, but a nice one.

"We should eat more of this cake."

"We should do this again." Shadow replied.

"Yes, yes we should." and Tails nods.

It was at this point that the staff girls from before approached.  
"Hello again." The first said. "We'd like to congratulate you."  
"Yes, after watching you every now and then, we have decided to give you a secret prize." the 2nd said.  
"This prize is handed out to only 3 of the top cutest couples a day." the last said. And an envelope was placed on the table. "Please, enjoy..."  
"Thanks for coming." All three said before the left.

"What is all this about?"

."Open it." Shadow said. Tails takes the envelope and carefully opens it, she takes out the contents, being a card and things in the card. She opened the card and inside was a 2nd card, both cards had a photo each, once when they had kissed, and another during the time they were sharing the cake. Also, there were two coupons. One for a free couples cake, valid for 3 months, the other was to 'purchase' a free toy anywhere in the whole park, valid only until the end of the day. On the cards were titled 'Cutest Couple of the Day.'

"Um.... I guess we'll have to get another couple's cake then." said Tails.

Shadow takes the coupon momentarily. "It says valid for three months, we don't have to get it now." He said. "But, we could always bag it and you can take it home if you want?"

"There's already enough to carry." said Tails.

"Then save it for another day?" Shadow smiled. "We could even use it the next time we do this. Or are you up for a second helping?"

"Nah."

"Well, it's been a great day, so let's continue it." Shadow said, standing from his seat, and then going to assist Tails. "What would you like to do?" He asked.

"Actually, I'm somewhat worn." Tails said.

"Well, it has been a long day. Okay, we can go home, if you'd like." Shadow said.

"Well, let's leave here for today."

"Sure. Do you want to pick up that free prize?"

"Might as well."

And the two leave the place, and head to the game section, looking over the various prizes that each stall had to offer. "Anything you see in particular?" Shadow asked.

"Hmm..." Tails scanned the prizes. "Daichi, you pick out the prize." She decided.

"Hmm..." Shadow looked at all the prizes and then walked over to a stall, Tails following.  
"Hello, would you like to play?" The Game Vendor asked.  
"No thanks, actually, we have a coupon from the cake shop. We'd like to use it." Shadow said.  
"Ah, I see. Well, pick a toy you like and it's all yours."  
"That rabbit teddy." Shadow said. The Teddy in particular was a floppy eared bunny which was pure white, but it had pyjamas on with a sleeping hat and was quite cute. The vendor handed it over, but Shadow kept the coupon for now and showed the toy to Tails. "For Lavender?" He asked her.

"Yeah, why not." said Tails. "You have to carry that though."

"Sure." Shadow said, passing the coupon over and took the prize. The two then headed to leave. "I figured, the Chao toy was a little big to fit in a cot, so this little rabbit fits well, at least she'll be able to cuddle it at night, right?"

"Yeah." and Tails had another smile on her face. "We better go now."

So the two leave the park, Shadow makes sure to take Tails free hand into his own as they leave. "I really enjoyed myself today, Tails." He said.

"Me too. Maybe you won't dread doing more fun stuff in the future."

"If I'm with you, I can do anything." Shadow smiled.

"That flattery won't get you anywhere."

"Hm, well. I'll see what happens in future. But yeah, I'll try to do more fun things."

"Ok."

The two took the elevator out. "So, to Vanilla's?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah, I can tell her about Muri and Kirika." Shadow nods and the two head off in the direction of Vanilla's place.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Sorry for the delay people, what with the work we've been having and what not, we've not had as much time to write and proof read as we'd have liked to. But, after a long wait, here is the chapter you've all waited for, hopefully you'll be satisfied. Please enjoy!

*

The door opens to see Vanilla with a smile on her face. "Looks like your date went well." she said. "Come on in you two."  
Shadow and Tails walk inside carrying their stuffed dolls. _This wasn't so bad._ Thought Tails. _Shadow still needs a bit of work, but at least it was a good first date.  
_"So, how was your first experience of Twinkle Park?" asked Vanilla.

"Enjoyable." Shadow replied.

"And what all did you do?"

"Played a few games, broke one of them, watched a live Chao show, had some food, rested in a Chao Garden and shared a couples cake." Shadow replied with a smile. "Personally, my favourite part was the cake."

"_Couple's cake with Tails and enjoyed it?_ It's official; we're seeing the softer side of Shadow the Hedgehog."

"If I was to be more specific, the highlight of the day was what happened _just_ before getting the cake."

"And that was...."

Shadow then tapped his own nose, as if to say 'I'm not telling.'

"Really... I didn't expect you to actually blow a load at the park, but I see I'm wrong."

"Ask Tails if you must know." Shadow shrugged.

"Shadow wants me to give him some." said Tails as she stuck out her tongue.

"I figured you'd say that." Shadow said. "Well, that wasn't what I had in mind, but hey, I can go along with that." And clicked his fingers before he stuck his tongue out in return.

_Yup, he wants it bad._ Thought Vanilla.  
"But I'm not putting out on the first date." said Tails.  
_Good girl.  
_"I may have to pull out the Magic Naked Apron though."

"I never expected you to put out on the first date." Shadow said. "Then again, I never expected you to accept the date in the first place, so I'm contented for now."

"Overall, what can you say about your date on the date?" asked Vanilla.

"Hmm, Tails was absolutely lovely, there was one moment she was unhappy, but a certain out-of-business vendor is to blame for that. I thought it was great though." Shadow rubbed his chin in thought. "I should have kept that bell as a trophy..." He muttered.

Tails giggled. "Shadow was cute and a bit sly. He still needs work on dates, but did good for the first one." Tails answered.

And Cream finally appeared. "Hey Tails." She said, noticing the fox was here. "How was the date? Did Shadow screw up?" She asked.

"He did," Tails answered. "I had to remember that he's not used to us girls in cases like this, but it was otherwise fine."

"I see, so no 'special treatment' then?" And Cream giggled.

"Nope."

"Aww, too bad Shadow." Cream teased. Shadow simply shrugged, but didn't say anything.

"Is there something I should know?" Tails asked.

"Nope, It's just something I said to mom after you left." And Cream stuck her tongue out.

"If I find out there's some odd mess going on around here behind my back, I'm gonna be pretty mad."

"Trust me, it's between me and Mom, Shadow's as oblivious as you are." Cream giggled. "So, is the park still intact?"

"It's still in one piece. Anyway Vanilla, can we speak in the back, I wanna discuss something with you." said Tails.  
"Sure, let's go." said Vanilla and the two go into the back.

"Need any more help with her?" Cream whispered to Shadow.

"Maybe, but I'm alright for now." Shadow replied.

"Suit yourself."

"Why, what do you think I need help with?"

"Nothing. You'll ask when you need it."

"That I shall. Thanks for the previous information." Shadow said, before patting Cream on the head.

"Whatever."

Vanilla and Tails walk back into the front room. "So you saw Muri at Twinkle Park with Kirika, I hope they were doing okay." said Vanilla.  
"Yeah. Muri is big too, like a miniature cloud." Tails said. "By the way, how is my place coming along?"  
"Still in the works from what I hear." Vanilla answered, obviously a lie.

"So, what are you going to do from here?" asked Cream.  
"Not sure, but I do plan on going back to see Sonic." Tails answered.  
"Let him know about what we discussed." said Vanilla.  
"Sure." Tails nods.  
"And Shadow, when you're done running around, I have a few choice words for you."

"Is that so? Is that your way of saying come back later, or do you have time to tell me now?" Shadow replied.

"Come back after you take Tails home." Vanilla answered.

"Fine."

"Come on, we better go." said Tails.

"Okay." Shadow replied. "Talk to you later then, Vanilla." He said.

Shadow and Tails take their leave and head for the elevator. "I wonder what she wants to say..." Shadow said.

"Not sure." said Tails. "Probably has something to do with her chaos emerald."

"Perhaps." Shadow said. "I'm glad you had a nice time, by the way. I hope we can have more fun soon."

"Yup." said Tails.

They waited for the elevator, but it was packed up with people and no one appeared to want to get off on this floor.

"So, stairs?" asked Tails.

"Or, I can shift some of these people..." Shadow replied.

"Stairs."

"Okay." And the two head for the stairs.

So the two begin the long flights of stairs, and when they hit the second flight, a certain Armadillo notices them. "Oh, hello again, Ma'am. I hope you're okay from our last encounter. I'm really sorry for what happened." Mighty said whilst bowing to Tails.

"We're fine, but thanks for your concern." Tails said.

"It was my fault, I'm glad there was no harm done." Mighty said. Shadow simply lifted an eyebrow, but stayed quiet. "Good day to you." and Mighty continued up the stairs.

Shadow and Tails continue down the stairs and finally reach the bottom. Shadow looks to Tails. "You okay?" He asked.

"I'll manage." Tails answered.

"Okay." And the two continue out the building and head in the direction of Sonics' place. "Is there anything I can do for you at all?"

"I'll tell you."

"Okay." Shadow said, as the two continued walking.

*

Shadow and Tails arrive at Sonic's, and Tails let's herself in.

"Hey, Sonic. You busy with stretches?" asked Tails.

Sonic lifts up from the sofa. "Nope, watching the tube. So, how awful was the date? Bet Shad was a real annoying one." He teased, standing up and walking over. Shadow got a little angry at this, but it didn't show on the outside.

"He did good for his first date." said Tails. "We did a lot better than your run with Amy at Twinkle Park."

"Oh, please. It was _good_ that I managed to lose her in there. Shame about the robot thing though." Sonic shrugged. Shadow grinned though.

"So it was a date after all..." Tails grinned.

"Nooo, she was running from that...Oh never mind, I give up. There's been another 'hoax' about your gender, Tails. People are getting more reports, but the media still doesn't buy it." Sonic said.

"I should get back and see what Vanilla wants, but I'll come and find you later sometime, Tails." Shadow said to the Fox.

"Okay, see ya." said Tails.

Shadow hugs Tails briefly before he warps off. Sonic scratched his head. "He's friendly...don't see that often..." He said.

"It's his 'softer side' as Vanilla pointed out." said Tails. "Speaking of her, she wanted me to discuss something with you."

"Oh?" Sonic questioned. "Well, take a load off and I'll get something to snack on." He said, before speeding off into the kitchen. "Anything you want?" He called.

"Just a honey bun."

"Gotcha!" Sonic called again, Tails took a seat and Sonic wasn't long with food and came out, taking a seat next to her.

"Now, what's going on with you and Amy?" Tails asked as she took her honey bun.

"I had a few choice words with her after she attacked Tikal. Other than that, nothing." Sonic replied, before he opened a large packet of chilli flavoured crisps.

"Go on."

"I told her to get help. And that I don't want to be with someone who'll attack their own friends."

"So you were contemplating a relationship with her?"

"Nope." Sonic replied, without hesitation. "I'm not interested in relationships yet. I like my freedom." Sonic had another handful of crisps. "She was basically begging me to impregnate her, and I won't do it."

"So you basically led her on then?"

"I never did that either." Sonic said. "I always thought I made it perfectly clear I had no interest, but she persisted. So in a way, she led herself on."

"You just do that to shut her up then?" and Tails bit into her honey bun.

"The only impressions that I **might** give her are when I save her from Eggman, but then again, I save all my friends from Eggman. I don't lead her on in anyway shape or form. If I did that, I wouldn't run away so much whenever she pops up." Sonic then finished his crisps, zipped off and returned with another pack in less than 3 seconds.

"Well, she's a nervous wreck because of it. Aside from wanting to move away and killing herself, Amy is practically losing it. Almost worse then you did when this whole mess started. The mess with me, I mean."

Sonic sighed. "Fine, I'll talk to her. But I'm still not interested in cherry popping, marrying, dating or giving her babies..."

"Fine, but consider getting yourself a shagging partner."

"I don't want one." Sonic said. "I prefer my freedom."

"Don't look at me, it's what Vanilla said."

"Vanilla, she can't help but 'set people up', can she?"

"You act like you'll have to deal with the 'hammer swinging Amy' this time, Sonic."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, perhaps I'll see if Blaze or Tikal are up for it." Sonic said. "But not Amy, she'll get the wrong idea. I don't want a relationship."

"Just don't pull a Silver." and Tails stuck out her tongue.

"I'm not gay."

"But anyway, what hoax was it this time?"

"Same one. More people have sighted you, thinking you're not Miley Inari." Sonic said. "The media don't buy it though."

"What are they saying now?"

"It was some random town sighting, some people claim it's impossible for you to be a living cosplayer of Tails, so they are convinced you are really you and are really female."

"Aha. _Maybe I should take Marine's worries about that tipster to heart._ Thanks for telling me, Sonic."

"Not a problem." Sonic replied, after a short time, he let out a laugh. "Hey, perhaps you can be my fuck-buddy, it'd shut Amy up at least." He joked, clearly.

"That's what set her off in the first place."

"And, you make it sound like the reaction would be different if I had a different fuck buddy."

"Amy thinks you're Lavender's father."

"That's bull and she knows it..."

"Whatever the case, I already know how everything's going."

"In all fairness, that makes me sound like a horny rat." Sonic said. "If I _was_ the father, I would have had to have sex with you the _same_ day you got violated, since you found out the day after." Sonic explained. "Sorry for opening old wounds." Sonic then had another handful of crisps. "So how's everything going?"

"I told Vanilla about our date in two words, she said to have Sonic find a shag partner and to talk to Amy, and then there was the last part...."

"In two words?"

"Yeah"

"Those words?"

"Not the point."

"Okay. So, the last part?"

"All of this is over the last emerald." Tails' ears drooped.

"What do you mean?"

"Vanilla said she's having Shadow court me for the emerald."

Sonic's jaw dropped. "So....you mean, Shadow's playing you just to get a hold of the last emerald?" He asked.

"No, Vanilla won't let Shadow have it unless we go through a bit of courting."

_That son of a...So he's doing this just to get that emerald, huh? Perhaps I should give him a piece of my mind! _And Sonic stood up and stretched. "I see, well. I'm gonna head out for my daily run, think you can look after the place on your own for a few minutes?" He asked.

"I think this is Vanilla's plan, not Shadow's. But don't do anything rash."

"Like I said, just a run." And Sonic dashed out of the house, his unfinished packet of crisps landing neatly on the sofa.

"I'll be here. Catch you later, Sonic."

*

Sonic sped off and headed into the city. _He said he was heading to Vanilla's so I know where he is..._ He thought, as he chose his destination.

Meanwhile, Shadow had stopped in the middle somewhere and was contemplating going to Rouge's or Vanilla's first. Then he heard the familiar sneaker-hit-floor speed of Sonic's and turned, only to get smashed in the face by a fist and sent flying into a nearby wall. After the dust settled, Sonic was stood where Shadow was previously, and Shadow wiped his mouth from the punch and stood up.

"Spoiling for a spar, I see..." said Shadow.

"How dare you?!" Sonic barked. "I can't believe you'd go so low as to toy with Tails to get a Chaos Emerald!"

"Vanilla told you about this, didn't she?"

"No! Tails did!" Sonic replied. "I can't believe that's all you're in it for!"

"What's your problem?"

"You're my problem! As if Tails hasn't got enough to go through without you toying with her. It's a good thing she doesn't give a shit about you enough to be heartbroken, at least I hope not! You'd better stay away from Tails if all you're in it for is that Chaos Emerald. I don't care if you never lay your hands on it, I won't let you hurt my best friend!"

"You have it all wrong." said Shadow.

"Is that right?" Sonic questioned, still angry. "What exactly do you want those emeralds for, anyway?!"

"Do you think you can believe me if I were honest with you about getting the last emerald?"

"So you _are _just after the last emerald?! Stay away from Tails, you and Vanilla sort out your own way of an exchange, but leave Tails out of it! I have a few choice words for her as well."

"You idiot, I'd rather grab that emerald another way. But Vanilla wants me to plough into her before I can get it. I'd rather fight her for it than have to involve our fox's heart into things. I'm doing all of the dating because I want to and because I care. I'll let her tell me when I can 'nail her' as the slang goes."

"Yeah right. As if you're one to care about anyone but yourself." Sonic snapped. "That's how you've always been, why should now be any different? Keep away from Tails!"

"So I'm not allowed to change?!"

"Perhaps you are trying to change, perhaps I am mistaken. But the way things are turning out at the moment, chances are you're just as selfish as always."

"Have you ever thought that I just might take a liking to the mother-to-be? Everyone is on good terms with 'Miley', so why can't I? Must I be the one that has to constantly be the lone wolf, who only has rivals and a solitary life.

"Maybe for once, you would think that I would like to be friendly with someone who's actually real? The only friend I have is Omega, but I would like to have an 'inner circle' myself, not just some line."

"Then prove it to me." Sonic said. "Because until this whole rule to get the emerald drops, I'm not convinced." And Sonic dashes off.

Shadow skates after and manages to catch Sonic's fast feet. "So lemme get this straight, you wanna get mad at me for trying to branch out to the one person that everyone can depend on?" he asked. "You really are shallow. If you feel so protective of 'lil sis', then you plow her." And Sonic went to punch Shadow a second time. Shadow laughed as he took the blow. "That's the reason, you're mad because I'm with her. It eats away at you like acid to think she'd give me the time of day and not you. But then again, you have worse luck with women than I do. Maybe we should go for drinks sometime and make a toast to our woman troubles." he continued to taunt the blue hedgehog.

"To think I considered you a friendly rival, a friend. But no, you're just a second rate fake hedgehog!" Sonic barked. "Tails is like my little sister, that's how it shall stay. I don't have woman troubles because **I don't want them!** I prefer my freedom and will settle down when I want to and no sooner. I don't like the idea of you toying with Tails heart when she's already got so much to deal with."

"So if I call her and ask if you've wanted to get some from her, she'll tell me 'no'?"

"Fuck off, Shadow." And Sonic continued running, in the direction of Vanilla's it appeared.

Shadow let Sonic go. _You stupid bastard.... I hope you get chewed out._ he thought and skates off.

Sonic arrived at Vanilla's place and was about to knock, however a ball of light appeared and circled him. "What?" He questioned, then in a blinding light, he vanished.

Shadow warped into Club Rouge and he was none-too-happy.

"Hey, just in time. I need your help with a few things." said a shocked Rouge.

"Find another errand boy." Shadow retorted. "I'm not in the mood." And into the corner Shadow goes.

"Well, okay then. Just lemme know when you want a drink... on the house."

"Get me something hard, then if you're not _too_ busy, you can pull up a seat and tell me what you want and I'll consider it."

"One Heavy Slug, coming up."

Rouge makes her drink, then Omega appears. "WHAT IS YOUR PROGRESS ON CURRENT MISSION ELIMINATE HOSTILE MOOD?" Omega asked Shadow.

"Was doing well, until that blue moron decided to sucker punch me." Shadow replied.

"WAS THE RETALIATION MINIMAL?"

"I mocked him, but he was the one throwing punches. It was a funny thing to see." Shadow laughed.

"NO RETALIATION?"

"I didn't fight back if that's what you mean."

Rouge came over with the Heavy Slug. "Here's your drink." she said.

"Thanks." And Shadow took the drink. "Fuckin' Sonic, who does he think he is. And I have a few choice words of my own for Vanilla." Then Shadow looks at Omega. "Just to prove a point, here." And Shadow takes the Red Chaos emerald and throws it to Omega.

"DOES NOT COMPUTE." said Omega.

"Vanilla told Tails that I'm trying to sleep with her solely for the ownership of the chaos emerald she current possesses. This is not the case, so to prove it. I'll remove all but one chaos emerald from my possession." Shadow replied.

"Well, it won't go anywhere as long as Omega has it." said Rouge.

"It's not in my possession, and stops the Doctor from getting it also." Shadow said, before throwing the Purple one to Rouge.

"I'm glad I didn't have to ask for one."

"Humph." Shadow said. "If they truly believe that I care only about these emeralds, this is my way of proving them wrong." He said. "Perhaps I should just move back to the ARK, people won't let me change, so why should I stick around?"

"Because of your promise to Maria."

"Like I can fulfil letting people be happy when I'm not allowed to be."

"PEOPLE NEEDS TO BE HAPPY WITH YOU, NOT HAPPY WHILE YOU'RE MISERABLE." said Omega. "MEATBAGS ARE MINDLESS, STUPID, QUICK-TO-JUDGE SENTIENT BEINGS WHO-"  
"What Omega is trying to say," Rouge cut Omega off, "is that you have to learn how to be patient."

"Heh, I guess. It's not like Sonic can **kill** me for going against his threats." Shadow drank his drink and put it on the table. "So, what do you need me for?" He asked Rouge.

"Just a few placement things, I'll be opening up the club tomorrow night." Rouge answered.

"Hm, fine." Shadow said. "I shall go and see Vanilla first though, she wanted to talk about something."

"Try not to get your neck rung." Rouge cautioned. "Only her late husband was able to beat her using force."

"She said she had some choice words for me. I don't intend to fight her or anything." And Shadow warps off.

"Let's hope not."

*

Sonic opened his eyes to find himself in old mystic ruins. "What the...Where am I? One minute ago I was outside Vanilla's door..." He said to himself. "Looks like the old mystic ruins, and if I know that light, Tikal brought me here." Sonic said. "Why, I wonder."  
"Because you're letting your anger get the better of you, and we all know what happens when you get too angry." Tikal said from behind him.  
"Let me out of this place, I have a rabbit that needs talking to."

"You need to get in check first."

"Do you even **know** what Vanilla is having Shadow do?! I won't let them sit around and tear into Tails heart; it's not something I'm going to tolerate." Sonic told Tikal.

"What is Vanilla having Shadow do?" asked Tikal, lying to Sonic.

"She's trying to 'court' him with Tails in exchange for the last Chaos Emerald." Sonic told her. "I mean seriously, would you stand for that? He's only trying to get closer to Tails for a chaos emerald. What if she turns out to really like him, he'll break her like glass and I won't let him do it."

"That's funny, because Vanilla figures that Amy should watch you nail some girl to finally come to terms about you not wanting a relationship with her."

"Yeah, I got that as well. What is with that rabbit and thinking she has the right to manipulate everything? It's not on, I don't want a relationship and she has no right involving Tails in a trade with Shadow. That'd be like me saying I'd hand you over to a science organisation to experiment on you, for an infinite amount of Chilli Dogs, sure the Chilli Dogs would be nice, but I just wouldn't do it."

"That, and I'd be able to escape easily." and Tikal giggled. "The point is that Vanilla wants Shadow to express his true feelings to Tails. And let's face it, while you were away, Shadow was the one Tails had to rely on."

"That's not the point, he's only in it for the emerald." Sonic retaliated, but his tone was low, meaning he was slowly giving in.

"_Idiot._ And how do you think he feels deep down?"

"I....I don't know. He's not really the type who socialises, like he said, his only friend is Omega and despite the fact he says he's over it and moved on, he's still obsessed about Maria."

"Do you think he'd be happy to give a stiff one to Tails?"

Sonic gritted his teeth. "What makes you think I want to know?"

"That same expression is how Shadow feels. I know, he turned down head from me when I was in the hospital after an Amy beatdown."

"Shadow turned down head?"

"Yeah, so he's probably dreading the fact that he has to court Tails."

"How so?"

"Hello, he didn't want my mouth. What makes you think he wants Tails' pussy?"

"You think he's gay?"

"No, but He doesn't wanna do any sexual favours for anyone."

"Hmm...Well, maybe he's kinda like me. Just doesn't want to settle down or something..." Sonic said, going into thought.

"You two should have drinks and pretzels over that."

"No way."

"Fine... I guess you two could.... no, that won't work either."

"If you mean anything in a gay sense, then no, that won't work..." Sonic narrowed his eyes.

"Actually I was gonna say you can coax Tails into a threesome, but if you wanna be butt pirates..."

"You're crossing a very bad line, Tikal..."

"Fine, I'm sorry." and Tikal bowed. "If you truly are Tails' big brother, and if Shadow truly does love her, then you'll have to accept these feelings."

"Apology accepted. What are your thoughts on the matter, you said you spoke to Shadow. So what do you think?"

"I think he should be able to have someone."

"Do you think he does love her though?"

"I haven't seen, so I can't say. But he has feelings for Tails, and strong ones at that.

"You should take Shadow's feelings for Tails into consideration before you rush into things. Pregnant mothers don't need so many things stressing them."

"Well...she doesn't need to be heart broken too, so what if that is just his motive, grab the emerald and leave, you know?"

"Sometimes, a man will change for a girl or woman..."

Sonic didn't reply. _Maybe i was a bit rash..._ He thought.

"Give them time."

"Yeah...I guess I should..." Sonic said. "I should get back to Tails, before she gets worried."

"And ask her forgiveness for trying to run up on Vanilla." Sonic didn't reply. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." Sonic said. Tikal nodded. "Okay, now close your eyes..." Sonic does so. "Now, sing Happy Happy Joy Joy." Sonic sings the song. In a flash of light, Sonic was back at his house.

But he was still singing, so Tails looked at him and lifted an eyebrow.

"You okay?" Tails asked.

Sonic was startled and fell over. "Oh shishkabob!" He said. Then looked around. "Looks like i am back already." He looked at Tails. "Oh, heya Tails." He said.

"What's with the music?"

"Long story short, Tikal took me to 'happy land." Sonic said, before he sped over and sat on the sofa, back to his crisps.

"At least you didn't have to do that one song like Rouge did."

"I heard about that." And Sonic shuddered.

"Did you bring back anything to eat?"

"Was I meant to?" Sonic asked.

"Nope."

"Oh, Tails. I'm sorry." Sonic said.

"It's okay.... just as long as you didn't do anything rash."

"Well, that's the thing, I kinda punched Shadow...and was gonna have a word with Vanilla when Tikal took me to that world." Sonic scratched his head. "I wasn't thinking."

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that."

Sonic sighed. "I gotta know, Tails. What do you feel for Shadow, if anything?"

"He wants to be with me, or so he says..." Tails gives a sigh. "Then as soon as I figure him out he says the one thing that really makes me wanna cry, even though I hold back my tears."

"Like what?"

"That... he wants... he wants to be Lavender's father."

Sonic's jaw dropped again. "That's not something I expected..." he said. "But, what does that make you wanna cry?"

"I guess it's just the fact that..." tears begin to swell in Tails' eyes. "I'm gonna be a single mom raising a baby with the help of everyone, but... Shadow... Shadow wants to make sure she has two parents in her life." and Tails began her cry. Sonic pulled Tails into a hug, and rubs her arm gently. "Shhhh..." He soothed her. "That's not a bad thing is it?"

"No..." Tails answered through her cry, "but I don't know how to respond to that."

"Hey, Tails. Do you know what I do when I don't know the answer to something?" Sonic said to her.

"Run places or eat chilidogs."

"Yes. And Do you know why I do that, rather than seek the answer?"

"No."

"It's because I don't need to seek the answer. If the question is important enough, the answer will find you." Sonic said. "You'll see, it'll all work out. One day, you'll just know what you want, and if you want Shadow to be the father of your baby, then so be it, right?"

"I... I guess so."

Sonic pat Tails head. "You'll see. It'll all work out."

"Okay. So, how about those pancakes?"

"We were doin' pancakes?" Sonic questioned.

"Will you make some for your niece?"

Sonic chuckled and leaned down to Tails belly. "Of course I will." He said, before giving it a kiss and speeding off to the kitchen and in seconds he was prepped to make pancakes.

*

Shadow appeared outside Vanilla's door. _I'll bring the subject up perhaps, but I'll choose my words carefully. Let's see what she has to say. _He thought as he knocked on the door.

To Shadow's dismay, Cream answered the door. "Hey Shadow, what's going on?" she asked.

"Is something going on? Vanilla wanted me to come back as soon as I dropped Tails off to Sonic..." Shadow replied.

"Oh, come on in." Shadow then nodded and walked in and again looked around the room, whilst he waited. "Can I get you a drink?"

"No thanks, I had something before I came." Shadow replied.

"Okay." Vanilla comes out and looks at Shadow. Her expression is straight, but says nothing.

"You had something you wanted to say to me?" Shadow questioned, looking at Vanilla.

"Just so you know, I told Tails about the chaos emerald situation."

"Oh, you needn't worry, I've already been well informed." Shadow narrowed his eyes. "And that certain blue hedgehog was not the nicest about it either, I'm curious as to how his rant went with you, also."

"That's none of your concern, but his rashness got him the boot with authority."

"Uh huh." Shadow said. "I figured I'd have some choice words for you as well. However, I've decided against it. And it's not because of fear, before you make that assumption. Tails was bound to find out eventually, so it's better it's earlier than later. I just hope it hasn't damaged my chances too much."

"Did Sonic ruin that?"

"Oh, I've been given warnings to keep away from Tails. He's a fool if he thinks he can stop me though." Shadow shrugged. "Seeing him angry is so amusing though. There's only one thing that will stop me seeing Tails."

"I see. Well, whatever the case, you have your work cut out for you."

"You're determined to make this more difficult, aren't you?"

"I figured that Tails should know what's going on. If you love her like you say you do, then this shouldn't hinder your feelings towards her. Or are you just trying to get between her legs?"

Shadow narrowed his brow. "This doesn't hinder anything." He said. "I'll prove myself one way or the other and just to prove to those who think I'm doing this solely for the Chaos Emerald are sorely mistaken. I only have 4 of them now."

"So why are you doing this?"

"Because I want to. Because I do feel for Tails, whether that's believable or not."

"So be it."

"Anything else you want from me, or shall I leave you to your day now?"

"Here. Take this and be on your way." and Vanilla tosses the blue chaos emerald to Shadow.

Shadow catches the emerald. "Why the change of mind?" He asked.

"Well, I could give you the emerald after you have sex with Tails, but it only proves that you were in it for the emerald."

Shadow looks at the emerald and then back to Vanilla. "I see. Well, either way, I'm still going to prove myself. See you later." And off he warps.

"And there he goes." and Vanilla returns to her room.

*

After Shadow left, Tikal appeared in Vanilla's lounge and waved.  
"Hello, Vanilla. How are things?" She asked.

"Going fine." Vanilla answered. "Are you alone?"

"I released Sonic after I had him cool down. How come you told Shadow that you had words with Sonic, when I didn't even let him reach you?"

"You forgot about how Shadow can manipulate time and space. Now answer my question."

"Yes, I'm alone."

"Why isn't Amy with you?"

"Because I left her in the mystic ruins for a little while."

"Which Mystic Ruins?"

"The old ones." Tikal teased. "She's still in the real world, I'll assure you. She's not stuck in the past."

"Come to my room, I want to discuss something so Cream's ears don't hear all that well."

"As you wish." And Tikal followed Vanilla into her room.

Once the two were inside, Vanilla closed and locked her door, then sat on her bed. "As you know, Amy feels like Sonic is never going to have her." Vanilla began. "But she struggles with letting go of him, which is where I have the perfect solution."

"Go on."

"Amy says she's ready to move on with life without Sonic, but her heart says otherwise. I need to test her to see if she can handle Sonic never accepting her romantically as she has vented over for as long as we both can remember."

"Mmhmm."

"Stop being a 'yes man' and come up with an idea."

"You said you already had a solution..." Tikal replied.

"I'm always open to other's opinions."

"Only solution I can think of is to fixate her to someone who would love her." Tikal replied.

"And how would you go about that?"

"That's where it is flawed."

"Next opinion."

"I said only..."

"Nothing on the fly?"

"Only seducing Sonic myself whilst having her watch from somewhere, but I think that's a little too mean."

Vanilla smiled. "Then let's tape the act and force her to watch it."

"What about your solution?"

"That was my solution. Have Amy watch Sonic laying pipe in another girl. I'm a firm believer of tough love, Tikal. Tough love is what makes Cream a polite and self-reliant individual."

"So, you want me to fuck Sonic and make sure she knows about it?"

"Volunteering yourself, eh? Are you sure you can handle it if Amy uses her boxercise moves against you in combat?"

"I can take care of myself." Tikal replied. "Amy might have the heart of a maiden in love, but she's genuinely useless without her hammers. I believe you have removed them from her, no?"

"Yes, but the girl can make a hammer out of a tampon."

"She got the better of me in her house only because I didn't expect it. But I'm not going to let my guard down around her again. You could always get Blaze to do it, but I don't think she has the nerves."

"Well, let me know so that I may tape it."

"You do know that if Sonic knows this is to be recorded, he won't do it. You'll need to bug a room or something." Tikal suggested.

"He'll do it. Just mention giving him a good time. It's not like you don't have a free vagina."

"I'll probably be able to get him in bed with little trouble. But only if he's oblivious to the real meaning behind it."

"Don't you want Sonic?"

Tikal pouted. "I do." She said. "But he's not going to go along with it if he knows we're recording for the sole purpose of showing Amy. He wants her off his back, yes, but he's too gentle and kind to go through with that knowingly. So I'll have to seduce him under false pretences."

"Then tell him you want to 'spice things up a little', Tikal. We're women..."

"Keep in mind this will be spur of the moment, so make sure you're ready when you need to be."

"You know my private line... Oh, and are we still on for the annual gambling day in Casinopolis?"

"Of course." Tikal replied. "I'll send you a text when I'm taking Sonic to do the dirty deed, okay?"

"That works." Vanilla nods.

"If you have any locations better suited for you, tell me now."

"I will call you about them."

"Okay." Tikal said. "I wonder if the girls would like to go out for the day..." She pondered.

"Which day?"

"Tomorrow, perhaps."

"I doubt Rouge will leave her club, but at least you can take Cream."

"Yeah, that's true. Well, anything else you need me for?"

"Just that recipe for that one tribal dessert you make."

"Ah, I'll write that down, got a spare pen and paper?"

"Sure, but let's return to the living room."

Tikal nodded and the two return to the living room, where Cream is happily watching cartoons.

Tikal receives the pen and paper and writes down the recipe in fine detail for Vanilla and then goes over to Cream. "Hey, Cream, do you want to pick up some of the girls and spend a day out?" She asked the doe.

"What day?" asked Cream.

"Today is a bit late i think, so perhaps tomorrow?"

"Sure." and Cream nods.

"Great, I'll come get you about 10 tomorrow morning, or would you prefer to meet the rest of us elsewhere?"

"Well, we can always check up on the other girls too."

"I'll come and get you around 10 and we'll go get the other girls from there. Amy too, depending on how long she's in the woods for." Tikal replied.

"That can work fine. we can even have lunch together."

"That's the idea. And I wanna play with Tails bump a little bit." Tikal giggled slightly.

"Yeah. You might get a reaction out of Lavender."

"Sounds like a joy to have life moving inside of yourself. I wonder what it's like." Tikal thought. "Anyway, I better get back to Amy." And Tikal walked off a bit, then looked at Vanilla. "How long is she going to be in the forest for?" She asked her.

"Not too long, just to get a bit of survival skills." answered Vanilla.

"I'll keep her there over night and check on her then." Tikal said. "Well, gotta go. See you tomorrow, Cream." And Tikal turns into a ball of light and floats off.

"I think I'll get to bed now." said Cream.  
"Same here." added Vanilla. So the two headed to their respective rooms for the night.


	21. Chapter 21

((A/N: This is simply a WARNING. There will be some sensitive subjects in this chapter, so read at your own discretion, do not moan about it if you don't like it, we warned you.))

Tikal appeared in front of Vanilla's door. _Time to see if Cream's ready. _She thought, before knocking on the door.

After a bit, Vanilla opened the door. "So, here for the day out, are you?" she asked.

"Yes. Oh, reporting on Amy's progress, she's in denial." Tikal replied.

"Come on, she's getting ready."

"Ok."

Vanilla offers Tikal inside and closes the door behind the echidna.

"How was your night?" Tikal asked, entering the living quarters.

"Tiring, but I'll manage."

"I see."

"Have some eggs, you'll need your energy."

"I had a nice warm breakfast, thanks." Tikal politely declined.

"Suit yourself." and Vanilla went into her room. "Hurry up, Cream. Don't keep your company waiting." Tikal simply giggled ad waited patiently.

It took another few minutes, but Cream managed to come out and greet Tikal. Her sleeveless dress was oddly coloured, but fit the young doe to a "T". "Sorry about taking so long, this is the first time I ever wore this dress." she said.

"Looks good on you." Tikal said. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go." and Cream grabbed a quick piece of toast as she joined Tikal.

The two left and headed for the elevator. "So, how was your night?" Tikal asked the doe.

"Concerning, but I'll manage." Cream answered. "I can be around knives again..."

"Something happen?"

"Not gonna talk about it, it'll ruin the mood."

"As you wish, but I'm here if you change your mind." Tikal said, the two entered the elevator and hit ground floor, as the doors were about to close to go down, Mighty suddenly leaped inside. After he recovered, he wiped his head. "Phew, just made it." He said.

He looked around. "Oh...morning ladies." He said to the two.

"Hello again, how are things?" Tikal asked.

"Bad..." Mighty replied.

"It's my girlfriend, I don't know where I stand with her at the moment." Mighty sighed.

"What's the problem?" Tikal asked.

"Well, she dumped me the other day and I thought that was it, but she text me as if the whole conversation never happened, and I don't know if we're in a relationship, if we're not...and even so, she's making my life hard and I want it to work but she makes it really difficult..." Mighty explained.

"Hmm..." Tikal thought, she then took a business card and handed it to Mighty.

"What's this?" Mighty asked, taking the card.

"Tikal's Talk Show, at your service. If you want to come and talk to me about your problems, then that's the place to sign up for it." Tikal replied.

"Oh, thanks! I might just do that."

_Weird._ thought Cream.

The elevator hit the ground floor and the 3 exit. "Well, Thanks again." And Mighty runs off.

"Ah, love...such a complicated mystery." Tikal said.

"Tell me about it." added Cream.

"You can bring Tails and come to my show as well you know." Tikal said to the doe.

"No thanks."

Tikal smiled and hugged Cream a little, slipping a card into her pocket. "Just encase you change your mind. Anyway, let's go to the Ocean Tornado and see what those girls are up to first." She said as the two left the building.

It wasn't too long before the girls were on the Ocean Tornado.

"Hello, anyone home?" Tikal called.

"Marine, Blaze, are you two here?" Cream called out.

Blaze came out on deck. "We're here, but Marine's still slacking off." She said. "What can I help you with?"

"Tikal and I were planning on having a day out." Cream explained. "Just wanted to see if you girls will join us."

"I see...perhaps. Just a moment." Blaze said, she then returned inside the ship. Then the whole ship seemed to shake violently. "MARINE! GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED ALREADY!" Blaze yelled.

Marine comes out her navy dress that she had bought during the events of "Rouge's Dress Malfunction", but she only had her right shoe on. "You know what, I was tryin' to iron this dress." she explained. "It looks great on me, but man..."

"So you finally woke up, huh?" Blaze questioned. "Tikal and Cream wanna go out for the day and want to know if we wanted to tag along."

"Obviously, you didn't hear me. I was ironing my dress." and Marine put her left shoe on. "Speaking of dresses, I like your dress a lot, Cream."

"Thanks, it's the first time I've worn it." said Cream.

"All those red, orange and yellow patterns, it looks wicked cool."

"Well, I tried. This is my guess of someone else's attire."

"Well, are we all ready to go?" Tikal asked.

"I am, but I wanna grab a bit of food along the way." answered Marine. "What about you, Blaze?"

"If you try to model me in any shape or form, Tikal, I'm leaving." Blaze said.

"Suit yourself." Tikal replied.

So the four girls left the ship and headed back toward town.

"Let's hit the club and see what Rouge is up to." Tikal said.

"Why not..." said Cream.

"Good, then I can hit the girl's room.' said Marine. My knickers are bunchin' up in the seat of my leggings." The girls continue on.

After reaching Club Rouge, the girls make their way inside, Rouge had finally gotten Shadow to help out around the place and Omega was in standby in the corner.

"Morning everyone." Tikal smiled as they walked in.

"The girls are back in town." Rouge joked.

"We're also going out for the day, want in?"

"Out for the day?"

"We're going to pick up Tails and have another girl's day out." Tikal cleared up.

"I'll head off to the girl's room now." said Marine as she went.

"A day out sounds interesting." said Rouge. "We aren't going bra shopping, are we?"

"Glad to see works not getting in the way." Tikal smiled.

"The tasks are pretty small at the moment, I'll handle them." Shadow said.

"Since when were you so nice?" Blaze asked.

"Since I found a reason to be." Shadow countered.

"That reason wouldn't happen to be a chaos emerald, would it?" asked Cream.

"Nope." Shadow said. "In fact." And he takes the cyan emerald and throws it to Blaze, who catches it. "Look after that, would you?"

"I don't get it..." Blaze replied.

"I can keep them all and have everyone believe they're my only reason for living, or I can prove otherwise, by handing them to those who I know can look after them from the Doctor."

"And what about the blue one my mom gave you?" asked Cream.

"That's going to Sonic."

"Could I look at it really quick?" Shadow tosses it over.

"SHADOW, CONGRATULATIONS ON SUCCESSFULLY FORNICATING WITH THE ORANGE FOREST CREATURE." said Omega.

"Actually, I haven't." Shadow replied to Omega. "Vanilla handed it over saying that if I received it after that, then that would have proven it was the only reason for my doing so, which isn't the case."

"Okay, you've completely lost me..." Blaze said.

"Well, I can tell you that my mom still has the blue chaos emerald." said Cream.

"Honestly. I don't care." Shadow said.

"This isn't a chaos emerald, it's a power gem. I remember seeing these before when Knuckles showed me one."

"Again, don't care." Shadow stretched. "She can keep it until it's needed."

"So you knew all along, yet you didn't say anything?" asked Marine.

"Done in the bathroom, I see." said Cream.

"You think I'd not know when a chaos emerald is real or not?" Shadow asked. "If Cream would know, why shouldn't I? I'm just not bothered. Besides, Vanilla is apparently quite capable of looking after it."

"Well, I guess you and Omega can handle the rest of the repairs here." said Rouge. "Let's go get fox girl and have a bit of fun. But after she's taken home, I want all of us to return here."

"Opening?" Tikal asked.

"That too, but I want all of your opinion on something I've decided to add to the menu. And this one is edible, not a drink."

"Interesting." Tikal said. "Well, let's go and pick up Tails then."

"We'll send her your kisses, Shadow." said Rouge as she walked from behind her bar.

"Sure, you do that." Shadow replied.

"Okay, that's just creepy..." Blaze whispered to the other girls, but failed to keep it from Shadow's ears too.

"You'll never understand." said Marine.

"And you can?"

"It's an intimate thing."

"Meh...May we go? Shadow being...not Shadow is confusing." Blaze moaned.

"Okay, let's go then." And Tikal leaves, followed by the rest of the girls. The crew were heading to Sonics' place.

"What was that all about?" Blaze asked.

"What?" asked Cream.

"The whole...Shadow not being an asshole...thing. You know, his usual character?"

"He's in love."

"That's hard to believe."

"Why do you say that?"

"This is Shadow we're talking about, right?" There was no response. "Seriously. Shadow's usually so far up his own ass that he can probably see the insides of his own stomach..."

"I remember you were like Shadow, Blaze."

"The way I was and how Shadow is are two different things."

"I disagree. You were pretty much a loner like Shadow was at the start, now you're open with the rest of us. This time, Shadow is opening up to us. I think it's great."

"By the way, where did you get the idea to don that dress, Cream?" asked Rouge.

"I figured I would wear it for a change." Cream answered. "Do I look fat in the hips?"

"No, but that design is fiery. I figured Blaze would wear something like this. Where did you buy it from?"

"I made it myself. It's my rendition of Princess Peach's Fire Dress."

"Anyway, I think it's a lovely dress." Tikal said.

"Blaze, you keep in touch with Peach and Daisy. What are those two doing right now?" asked Marine.

"The usual." Blaze replied.

"What's the usual?"

"Does it matter?" Blaze asked.

"Fine, don't answer me." Marine pouted. "I guess you're mad Shadow's interests are in the mother-to-be instead of you."

"Nope, not interested in the grouch." Blaze replied.

"Blaze is a lesbian." said Rouge. "With that said, let's get going."

"Wha..! I am NOT a Lesbian!" Blaze barked.

"Anyway, let's just keep going." Tikal said.

The girls continued on and eventually reached Sonics' house, where they knocked on the door, only for Sonic to answer.

"Party?" He questioned.

"Grab the fox and let us have her for a day." Rouge answered.

"She's sleeping still." Sonic replied.

Rouge turned to the girls. "Plan B."

"That is?" Tikal asked.

"You have no ideas?"

Tails at this point came waltzing out and let out a long yawn, wearing her maternity gown. "I hear voices, is it breakfast yet?" She asked sleepily.

"Well, that answers that." Tikal replied to Rouge.

"I take it you're just waking from your sleep." said Cream.

Tails rubbed her eyes and stretched and yawned again. "Kinda, I've been sleeping on and off last night." She replied.

"You feeling okay?" asked Marine.

"I just couldn't get to sleep." Tails said. "What's with the gathering? Is it someone's birthday or somin'?"

"We were gonna have a girl's day out, but I see you're just waking up." said Cream.

"Gimmie ten minutes and I can grab breakfast in town..." And Tails sleepily returned to her room to change.

"Wow, I've never seen her like that before." Tikal said.

"She does it more often these days." Sonic replied.

"The insomnia, or the late mornings?" asked Cream.

"She comes out claiming not to have slept well, but sleeps into the afternoon's sometimes." Sonic shrugged. The girls had no responses, but a few worried groans left Cream and Marine.

"Something the matter, girls?" Sonic asked the two. "Hey, come on in and relax."

"You go ahead, I'll stay outside and think." Cream offered.

Sonic lets the girls inside, but stays outside with Cream. He touched her on the shoulder. "Everything okay?"

"I'm just trying to place a puzzle piece." Cream answered.

"Anything I can help with?"

"Nope, I just need to think."

"You would let me know if something concerns you about Tails, right?" Sonic questioned, letting Cream go.

"Yup."

"Okay." And Sonic left Cream in peace. _Tails' pregnancy is doing some odd things to her. I hope she'll be okay._ Thought Cream.

Back inside, the girls had made themselves comfortable and Sonic had fetched them each a quick soft drink whilst they waited for Tails to get ready.  
"So, any plans for you girls? Or do you just plan to wing it?" Sonic asked the group.

"Girl stuff, nothing serious." Marine answered.

"I see." Sonic said. Tails came out of her room; she was fully dressed, except for her feet.  
"Sonic, have you seen my shoes?" Tails asked.  
"They're by the front door." Sonic replied.  
"Thanks..." And Tails went to pick up her shoes.

After picking up her shoes, she returned to her room, threw on some socks, then slipped her feet into her shoes, before returning to the living room. "Marine, did I leave Lavender on the ship, do you know?" Tails asked Marine.

"My robot...." Tails sweat dropped. "You know, the little pod you kept frying when on ship."

"Does that mean you're ready to go?"

"Answer the question...Did I leave my machine on the ship?" Tails was getting slightly frustrated.

"Of course you did, but you won't need it anyway."

"Just checking to make sure I know where she is, is all..." Tails replied with a sigh. "Yes, I'm ready to go."  
"Great." Tikal smiled.  
"I'm surprised Amy's not here..."  
"She's having some alone time."  
"That doesn't answer why she'd miss one of these days out."  
"What she doesn't know, let's leave it at that."

"It is still concerning, I thought she **loved** these sort of events." Blaze said.

"After going through that hell over you know who, it's best to let her relax." said Marine.

"I'll just go into another room so you can continue talking about me as if I shouldn't be mentioned." Sonic shrugged and walked off.

"Where did Cream go?" Tails asked.

"She's waiting for us outside." Marine answered. "Hey Sonic, get your arse out here and lock up after us."

"I'm not going anywhere, so don't worry about it." Sonic replied from the other room.

"We better go. He's probably busy with other things."

So the girls finished their drinks, Tails went to the kitchen and picked up a packet of cheese and onion crisps and the group left to meet Cream outside, the door being firmly shut behind them.

"Everyone ready to go?" asked Cream.

"Yup." Tikal replied. "So, two of you want to pick up breakfast, right?" She asked, looking at Tails and Marine in particular, Tails however seemed quite content eating her crisps to even reply.

"Well, I can always fast." Marine answered. "And push comes to shove, I can always see to it that our mum here doesn't feel so top heavy."  
"Not this again." said Cream.

Tails rolled her eyes. "You're out of luck, Marine. Still filling up." She replied.  
"That's enough already..." Blaze snapped. "Marine, behave!"

"I can't help it..." Marine said with a sweat drop. "Unlike the rest of your girls, I've come to terms with myself over her hootz's content."

"Since when did I become a personal milk dispenser...?" Tails questioned quietly, mainly to herself though.

"Relax, I'd still love you just the same, even if you weren't pregnant. There's just more of you to love."  
"You really have issues" said Rouge.  
"No. What I have is a slight case of maieusophoria."

Everyone stopped walking and looked at Marine. "My use of what?" asked Cream.  
"Maieusophoria."

"Explain better, Marine..." Blaze conked the raccoon on the head.

Marine sighed. "Maieusophoria occurs when someone has an attraction to a girl who is, or appears to be pregnant. It explains why everyone's gunning for your milk." and Marine pokes Tails. "Individuals who have an interest, or arousal to pregnancy symptoms like getting pregnant, giving birth, or lactation have this. Sometimes, it's for play... and sometimes for pleasure."

Tails couldn't help but give Rouge an awkward look before returning her attention to Marine. After a long delay of what seemed unable to come up with a reply from our pregnant fox, she finally spoke.  
"Could...we just get to town already and stop talking about me, my pregnancy and everyone's interest in anything to do with it?" She asked.

"I'll try, but I'm not making any promises." Marine answered.  
"So the reason you did it with her was because of your suffering from maieusophoria?" questioned Rouge. "Interesting."  
"No, that was out of love, but let's try not to mention that on the street."  
Cream pulled Marine away from Tails by the ear. "You've done enough scaring her for one day." she said. "We'll let 'Miley' walk between Tikal and Blaze now."

"Well, I can suggest clothe shopping." Tikal said.  
"You're not modelling me, Tikal." Blaze countered.  
"Thanks for reminding me, nice to see you volunteering for today's model puppet."  
"That's not funny."

"All in favour of getting Blaze into new clothes..." Marine gave a motion.

Blaze growled and glared at the group as if to say 'motion that and **die**'. However, Tails raised her hand.  
"You do know that's not going to bode well for you, right?" Blaze said to the fox.  
"I also know that whilst I am pregnant you can't and won't touch me, so I'm fine for this." Tails giggled.

"Make her sing Bippity Boppity Boo in her new clothes." Cream said while sticking out her tongue.  
"The point of this is to get Blaze new clothes, not to give her a trip down memory lane." said Marine. "Let's just get Blaze some new threads..."

"I wasn't involved in that, so why should I suffer instead of each of you?" Blaze countered.

"Because it's your turn." Rouge answered. "Besides, it could be worse."

"And how could it be worse?"

"You can always be forced to sing 'It's a Small, Small World' in the plaza of the mall." Rouge whispered to Blaze.

"Oh, I love that idea." Tikal clapped happily. "There's your choice, Blaze, sing or dress."  
"I hate you..." Blaze cursed.

"Make her sing Bippity Boppity Boo in her new clothes." Cream said while sticking out her tongue.  
"The point of this is to get Blaze new clothes, not to give her a trip down memory lane." said Marine. "Let's just get Blaze some new threads..."

Blaze's line when you get back

"I will have my revenge..." Blaze cursed the group.

"If it makes you feel better, you can try getting me something new for fun." Tails replied.  
"You're actually volunteering for this..?"  
"You'd need to make sure it's maternity stuff, but yeah, I'm up for fun."  
"This isn't fun, its torture, I thought you learned that the last time it happened to you."  
"I could always think of it like that and dread it for every 7 to 15 days that this event accrues after I've dropped, or I can learn to enjoy it and make sure everyone else does it as well. But go ahead and think of it like you do, it just causes you to become pointlessly frustrated. Besides, I like getting complimented on my looks, but I guess that your bust doesn't do you enough justice for that..."  
"That was a low blow, Tails..." Blaze replied.  
"Oops...Sorry."

_I never thought I'd meet a princess that dreads clothing shopping._ thought Rouge.

"Besides, you don't have a choice between clothing and singing..." Tails added.  
"Wh-what do you mean by that?" Blaze sweat dropped in worry.  
"I want to go karaoke after shopping."  
"You...are pulling my leg, right?"  
"Did I sound like I was joking?"

Rouge just shook her head. _I'm glad I have the CD ready._ she thought.

"Okay, pick a shop then." Tails said to the others. "Where can we dress up Blaze first?"  
"This won't go without consequence..."

"You know, let's find some cute, frilly stuff." said Marine.

Tails then points in the direction of a pink shop. "Perfect shop for that." She replied.

"So it begins...." Rouge trails and drags Blaze into the aforementioned store.

With this said, the girls go into the store and look at clothes. The only problem is that Blaze didn't find anything to match her tastes.

"I wonder why they suddenly changed the shop so much..." Tails pondered.

"Not sure." Cream answered.

"What about that dress shop I like, we can go there if you want." Tails suggested.

"Dresses make me look weird. I'll pass..." Blaze said, trying to get out of the whole thing.

"Act like a princess for once." said Marine.

"Could always try cosplay." Tails suggested again.

"Blaze would be a prize winner for Revolutionary Girl Utena." Marine joked.

Blaze's veins began to show on her forehead as she became more and more irritable.  
"Well, there's a place nearby called Cosplay Planet, they have all sorts of different outfits from many franchise." Tikal said.

"That's a huge shop..." Tails said.

"You look like you're ready to blow." Rouge said to Blaze.

"I'll be fine..." Blaze replied. _If I can get out of this... _She finished in thought.

"You know, you'll never get a man unless you loosen up a bit."

"Who said I _**want**_ a man?!" Blaze barked.  
"So you _are_ a lesbian then?" Tikal questioned.  
"NO!" Blaze was now beyond reasoning. "I've had enough! Do whatever the hell you like and torture someone else, but leave me out of it!" With that she began to storm off.

Rouge went after Blaze. "So, you're giving up already?" she questioned the cat.

"Giving up on what?" Blaze asked, stopping.

"Getting new clothes. I mean, you've only been in one shop and you're ready to leave."

"I didn't _**want**_ new clothes. That was _**your**_ decision. I won't be used for your personal amusement." And Blaze continued walking.

"Blaze's kryptonite is shopping from new clothes... I expected a lot more bravery out of a princess who can harness sol emeralds."

Blaze stopped again and turned to face Rouge. "You're wasting your time if you think I'll sucker into that. I'm not Shadow and there's a difference between being scared and being pissed off during shopping, I am the lateral. I haven't forgiven you for that whole 'bust' incident, so if you think I'll allow you girls to mock me further, you've got another thing coming."

"So lemme get this straight..." Rouge folds her arms. "You're a princess who has pyrokinesis, you can harness sol emeralds, you can save the world and the parallel word from not one, but two Eggmen... but you can't even handle shopping for new clothes while getting ragged by the other girls?

"I get the fact that fox girl has a disdain for shopping to get girl's clothing, but she's pretty much being forced into womanhood here. Yet you can't handle it and you have no excuse? That's pretty sad, even for your standards. But hey, you're free to go back to the Ocean Tornado or keep Sonic company." and Rouge walked off.

Tails walked over to Blaze and whispered something to the cat, whom was none too happy with Rouge. After a short silence, and what seemed like Blaze contemplating something, the two girls returned to the group.  
"Fine, I'll put up with you, but I will get my back pay."

"Rouge, what did you tell Blaze?" Cream whispered.  
"I had to put a dent in her pride." Rouge whispered back.

"You know...I think I know a dress which _might_ work for Blaze. I saw it the last time we went to that shop and Rouge had that little accident." Tails said.

"Fine, let's go to that store." said Cream.  
"I'll follow, but I'm not going back inside that place." said Rouge.

"Wrong." Tails said. "If you want to make Blaze do something against her will, you can at least _**enter**_ the shop."

"Fine, but you better come out of there with some clothes."

Marine laughed. "Don't worry about her, Blaze. She's still sore because her dress exploded." she said.  
"My dress did not explode." Rouge retorts, red in the face.  
"Rouge is right, Marine." said Cream.  
"Thank you."  
"It ripped, then it exploded."  
"Dammit, that dress did not explode!"

"You shouldn't have crammed. I warned you that you couldn't fit into any dress in the shop." Tails added.

"But you didn't listen to me..." She shrugged.

Blaze had cooled down now, after Rouge became the target for some group mockery instead of her. _This better work, Tails..._ She thought to herself.  
"Rouge, take heart that I will admit that you now have a better chance of fitting in a dress in that shop than I do." Tails added.

_At least her tits will still fit._ Thought Rouge.

"I don't get it; Rouge's bust is still bigger than yours, Tails." Tikal said.  
"Yeah, but there's no such thing as a 'fat girls dress' in that shop." Tails added.

"But you aren't fat." said Marine.

"Trust me, any dress of my size I won't fit in." Tails scratched her head. "Unless I want to look like a muppet."

After a quick walk, the shop was in sight.  
"There it is." Tails smiled. However, before too long, there was a thud and Marine was on her backside having walked into someone, also on their backside.

"Whoa, that wasn't expected." Marine said, then took a look at who she bumped into. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you."

"It was...m-my fault, I wasn't looking..." The girl replied.  
"Muri?" Tails questioned, looking at the large rabbit on the floor. "Where's Kirika?"  
"In the shop still, I needed air. Can someone please help me? I can't get up..." Muri blushed.

"Let me." said Cream, who had managed to catch an eye of the collision.

Muri lifted her hands towards Cream for the help and was on her feet after a hand from Cream, her large bump now in proper view for the rest of the girls.  
"You're pregnant?" Tikal asked.  
"Um...yes..." Muri lowered her head a little, but Tails lifted her head.  
"None of that, remember our classes." She told her.  
"Okay..." Muri said.

"Man, what are the odds of this happening to me?" asked Marine.

Tails rubbed Muri's bump. "You both okay?" She asked."  
"Um...y-yes..." Muri replied, blushing.  
"Good." And Tails let the rabbit go. "Muri, these are my friends, Marine, Cream, Tikal, Rouge and Blaze. Everyone, this is Muri, we made friends during the first Lamaze class. She's a little shy, but she's very sweet."

_She's practically Cream's age._ Thought Rouge. _And she doesn't look too happy about her pregnancy...  
_"You seem troubled, what's on your mind?" asked Marine.

"Um...n-nothing..." Muri replied.

"Oh, never mind then."

"Will you be at the next Lamaze?" Tails asked.  
"Yes..." Muri said.  
"So, what brings you and Kirika to town today?"  
"Cot."  
"Oh?"  
"Yeah...And manga." Muri shows a book.  
"Pita-Ten?"  
"Yeah..."

Kirika comes out of the shop. "Oh, good morning Miley. Is Muri causing trouble?"  
"I-I am not causing trouble..." Muri said, upset.  
"Oh, don't take it like that; you know I didn't mean it." Kirika sweat dropped.

"I unintentionally bumped into her. Sorry about that, ma'am." said Marine.

"Hm, are you both okay?" Kirika asked.  
"I'm okay." Muri said.

"I'm good." Marine answered.

"Then all is well." Kirika replied. "So, what are you up to today?"

"Clothes shopping." Rouge answered. "That and I'm trying to keep our mother here out of harm's hands."

"Hmm...I see." Kirika said. "Care for one more person to join you? If she wants to that is."

"I take it you want to come along for the ride?"

"Actually, I have something else to do which is not an appropriate for a certain pregnant young doe, but she refuses to let me leave her with Tia. Also, Muri has never before been one to willingly want to go out, ever since the Lamaze Class when she met Miley, she's been more outgoing. Most of our outings were her ideas."

Cream wasn't too keen on the idea, but stayed quiet anyway. "I understand your concern, but you are her legal guardian." said Rouge.

"I'll give you my mobile number for encase anything happens and I'll take responsibility if anything does, but I trust nothing will happen." Kirika said. "Like I said, this is just me making the offer for Muri, it's entirely up to you all if you want to take her and if she wants to go in the first place."  
"I don't mind...but I wouldn't want to burden people..." Muri said.

"Hmm..." Rouge looked at Cream, then turned back to Muri. "This one's fox girl's choice."

"How long will you be?" Tails asked Kirika.  
"Shouldn't be anything more than an hour or two." Kirika replied.  
"Well, I don't see any problem with that, do you girls?" Tails asked the others.

"Hello, this is your choice, girlfriend." Marine answered.

"Fine, I say Muri can come with us for a little while." Tails replied.

"Make sure you get her info." said Rouge.

Tails nods and begin sharing information with Kirika, Tikal took this moment to whisper in Cream's ear.  
"You don't seem keen on this idea." She whispered to the doe.

"I'm concerned." Cream whispered back.

"For Muri?"

"No, in general."

Tikal then pushes Cream away from hearing range from the group. "Talk to me." She said.

"Don't get me wrong, Tikal. I have nothing against Muri, but my mom told me about that girl after Miley's first Lamaze class. The reason she's quiet is because she hid her pregnancy. That, and what are we going to do if Marine's maieusophoria goes after this girl?"

"I'm pretty sure Marine is simply contented with only Tails, after all I heard that like you Marine developed quite the crush on our young fox when everyone believed she was a he. If it comes to it, we'll just have to make sure Marine stays a good few feet from our pregnant friends. But why does it concern you that Muri hid her pregnancy, that was her choice in the end."

"I guess I'm just being a worry wart. I mean, we can get along with a pregnant doe for a few hours, right? I need to be positive about this sort of thing."

"I will admit that I am not happy taking a young pregnant doe from someone with a pregnant vixen as well, it does mean we have to increase our concern from one to two and also...Have you seen the size of that girl? Either she's carrying 8 small kids or she could keel over and birth at any moment..." Tikal said. "But, Kirika has faith with us and like she said, it's not like it'll be for too long."

"One thing my mom has taught me when it comes to being around a pregnant doe is how to smell her gestation. I can smell her amniotic fluid, but she won't labour yet. Granted she isn't jarred again, Muri will make it through the day."

"Even still, it's not too concerning if she does go into labour. I have enough nursing experience to keep her good until real help arrives." Tikal said.

"Well, let's rejoin the girls." Cream nodded. "I'll trust your midwife skills, Tikal... and hope my nose is right."

Cream and Tikal rejoin the other girls. "What were you two talking about?" asked Marine.  
"We were just wondering what Muri was having." Cream answered.  
"I've chosen to stay in the dark on that." Muri told them.  
"Well, we better get going." said Rouge. "Miley, did you get all of the info?"  
"Yeah, we're good." Tails answered.  
"Muri, have fun with the girls and I'll see you soon." said Kirika as she walked away.  
"Bye..." Muri trailed off.

_I'm glad this happened. It diverts the attention from me._ thought Blaze.

And luckily for Blaze, it worked. Marine and company spent the portion of their time getting to know Muri, in addition to keeping both pregnant girls in safe proximity. Cream's prediction of Marine's maieusophoria did happen, but she limited it to rubbing mineral oil on the young doe's belly. "You're next, Miley." said Marine. "This oil will reduce stretch marks."  
"I will oil down Miley." said Cream as she took the mineral oil from Marine.  
"Fine, I'll give slack."

Cream's big problem was that she was starting to see herself as Muri. But the point was to keep from fighting with her and making Tails happy. Either way, the girls still enjoyed the company and everyone got along just fine. After a while, the girls were all eating lunch in the food court. But that turned for the better as there was a hotdog eating competition. "Man, look at those two eat." said Blaze.  
"I'd probably be sick after eating all of those dogs." said Marine.  
"Sonic would've definitely lost his 'challenge' if your mom hadn't intervened." said Rouge.  
"I'm just glad we won't have to worry about those two being hungry after this." said Cream.

"So much food..." said Tails.  
"I was hungrier than I thought." said Muri.  
The many spectators just watched Tails and Muri go through the hotdogs like two hot knives through butter. Eventually, the contest had to be called because they ran out of hotdogs. "What a shame, I'm still hungry." said Muri.  
"Me too." said Tails.

"You're still hungry...after all that?" Blaze asked. "That's just scary."

"You put Sonic and Knuckles combined to shame..." Tikal added.

"If they were free enough to compete." Cream said, giving Tikal odd looks.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Tikal questioned.

"Just don't mention that again." advised Cream.

"What did I say?" Tikal asked, seemingly confused and saddened.

"So, where are we going next?" asked Marine.

"Karaoke." Tails grinned.

"Looks like it's time to sing." said Rouge.

"I can't...sing..." Muri blushed.  
"Honestly, I don't think anyone can, but its fun." Tikal smiled. "Anyone want to make this more interesting?"

"Let's just go to karaoke." said Rouge.

So the group stand and head down the town once again. They only had to stop twice for Muri to rest, but got there after a short amount of time. Entering the building, the place looked fairly nice, but what's surprised the girls was that Charmy was here cleaning the floor.

"Charmy, what are you doing here?" asked Cream.

Charmy looked up at the girls, and quickly followed by flying up in front of them. "This is what chaotix is reduced to, because we're lacking so much in customers, we're stuck to manual labour and nasty sick-cleaning jobs in these places just to make the cut." He ranted before landing and near enough crying.

"Tikal, you can give Charmy a better job than this." said Rouge.

"Yeah...probably. I'll visit the chaotix later, I'm sure I can arrange something, you could also help as well, if the Chaotix really are at ends meet you could always use a new bouncer since Knuckles is a little more busy these days and they can use the work." Tikal replied. "Put up with it for now, Charmy, but I'm sure I can get you and the chaotix some better jobs soon."  
"Yay!!" Charmy cheered before fluttering back to his cleaning.

_Shite!_ Marine thought. _The days of detectives are over... luckily for me, there are still things that need navigators._

"Anyway, we should get some songs in before we change our minds." Tails said.

"Go ahead, I got last dibbs." said Rouge.

The girls then head to the counter and get a private room in order to sing, they got several CD's of their choice and headed into a very nice room which had plenty of leather padded seats, which poor Muri had trouble keeping on because she kept sliding on them. After discovering she was able to sit comfortably in the corner of the chair, she finally relaxed some.  
"So, who's up first?" Tails asked.

"Tikal's first." Marine answered. "I'm a bit hoarse for singing."

Tikal hopped up happily and went to the tracks. "Let's see then..." She pondered. "About my making it more interesting. How about you decide the song as a group and that's the song that must be sung, despite what."

Tikal hopped up happily and went to the tracks. "Let's see then..." She pondered. "About my making it more interesting. How about you decide the song as a group and that's the song that must be sung, despite what."

"I really don't care." Rouge answered.

"Why don't you sing one of Rouge's favourite songs?" Tails asked.  
"What one is that?" Tikal questioned in return.  
"Fly in the Freedom, I think it was called."

"Let's hear that." said Rouge.

And so, the song began to play and Tikal happily took up the mic. She sang slightly off tune to the music, but it wasn't too far apart to really make a difference to the girls, she sang it nicely and gave it plenty of feeling and most of the girls thought she sang it too nicely to really give bad criticism and mocking towards Tikal.

"Eh...I was hoping she'd be awful at this so that we could at least laugh." Tails whispered to the other girls, so not to distract.

"Not bad, not bad at all." said Rouge.

And so the song finished, Tikal took a bow and returned to the crew. "Oh this is fun. So who's next?" Tikal smiled.  
"Votes on Marine." Blaze said.

"Well, I'm not quite ready to sing yet." said Marine.

"Any volunteers?" Tikal asked.

"Told you, I got last dibbs." said Rouge.

"Cream, up for a duet?" Tails asked.

"Mmm... I guess it couldn't hurt." Cream answered. So the girls went up to the song list, found a song the both liked, but weren't as successful in singing it as Tikal was with her song, and it turned into quite the comical laugh, but neither of the girls were embarrassed, in fact they began to mock the song and even change the lyrics for a good laugh.

After the song ended, they returned to their seats and Tails took a load off.  
"Oh, that was good fun." Tails said.  
"Muri's still in stitches." Tikal said, motioning toward the young pregnant doe who was on her side on the chair in a fit of laughter. "That's the happiest I think I've seen her since she joined us today."

"It's good to see her happy face for a change." said Marine. Eventually Muri calmed down from her laughter and just lied on the chair, it was okay since there was loads of room and she was a small rabbit.  
"So, what's up next?" Tails asked.

"I guess the other princess gets to sing now." said Rouge.

"Eh..." Blaze said. "I don't really..."  
"Ah, ah, ah...there's no ifs or buts. You'll be singing eventually, so don't try to worm your way out of it." Tails interrupted.  
"Can't Marine go first?"

"Can't Marine go first?" Marine mocked Blaze.

"Shut up, Marine!" Blaze snapped.

"Fine, I'll go first." and Marine went to grab a mic.

"I understand why you don't want to sing, it's embarrassing." Muri said, still on her back on the chair. "Can...someone help me up please?"

Marine was just about ready to take her cue, but she suddenly tripped. As this happened, all the girls have noticed the raccoon's top betray her... showing some very interesting items on the ground. "Wait a minute..." Cream said and took one of the items. "This is bra padding."

"I can't see..." Muri moaned.

"Hey, come on, give that back." said Marine.  
To add more misfortune, her dress caught hold of something and ripped, exposing her bare chest to the girls. Luckily for Muri, Tails had helped her to a base where she could see. "Wow, bra padding and a-cups... how small..." Cream joked.  
"It's not funny, mate." said an embarrassed Marine.  
"No, but those are... ITTY BITTY TITTIES!" Blaze let out a massive grin from ear to ear almost.  
"Wow...even I have a bigger bust than that..." Muri said.

"That's all I needed to hear." said Rouge as she pushed Marine off stage. "It's time once again to sing." and the music of shame began to play.  
_Awww shite!_ Marine thought.

"Early singing for Rouge it seems." Tails said.

"It's now time to clap along." said Cream. "Welcome to the ritual haze, Muri." Thus began Rouge's singing of Bust.

Marine tried to plug her ears, but Blaze made sure to remove them for the duration of the song.

"Ritual?" Muri questioned. "This song is awful..."

_Tails should fill her in on this..._ thought Cream.

Tails lifted Muri's ear and whispered to the doe, before receiving a satisfying 'Oooh...' as Muri understood.  
"Sing along." And Tikal sings along to the song.

After the wily antics of Karaoke, the girls leave the "Mic and Music" glory behind them as they walk down the street. "We have a very interesting sisterhood, Muri." said Cream.

"Oh?" Muri questioned. "That was fun."

"That wasn't fun for me." said Marine, still embarrassed from her mishap.

"Everyone has to suffer some form of humiliation at some point. Who's left?" Tails asked.

"Actually you, but we'll get you later." said Rouge.

"Excuse me, if you recall, I've had my humiliation..." Tails narrowed her eyes. "Or do you forget the whole forcing me to wear panties for your amusement?"

"Girls wear panties... unless you like public breezing."

"I didn't want to do it, if you recall." Tails stuck her tongue out. "Also, I'm not the only one who hasn't had an embarrassing moment if you don't count that one. We still got Tikal and Amy, even if she's not here at the moment. And Tikal, why didn't Shade come for this, has she gone home already or something?"

"She wasn't available." Tikal replied.

_Even at this stage, fox girl can't keep certain things in._ thought Rouge. "We can't rag Muri, right?' Rouge asked.  
"Temporary parts of the inner circle don't get rousing until later." added Cream.

"Meaning?" Questioned Blaze.

"I'm sorry?"

"What do you mean?"

"As far as what goes?"

"The inner circle thing."

"All of us are part of Miley's inner circle. We are her girls and we've known her for years. Besides, we all get our share of being ragged on."

"I see." Blaze said.  
"So, what are we going to do ne-..." And Tails mobile began to ring. She wasn't slow in pulling it from her pocket and answering. "Hello?" She said. "Oh, hello Kirika, I assume you're done with your business?"

_That was pretty quick._ thought Marine.

"You okay? You sound kind of ill... Oh okay, so, when do you want to meet up?" Tails paused for a moment. "Are you sure you're okay? You don't sound it....Oh, okay. Well, talk later then, bye." And Tails hung up.

"And what's going on..." said Marine.

"We gotta meet up in an hour by a cafe in the main square." Tails replied.

"Oh."

"It sounded almost like she was about to feint though...it was odd..."

"Really?" asked Cream.

"Well, I'm no doctor, but I know when someone is alright or not, even if she said she was fine..."  
"She probably had another fight..." Muri blurted.

"Fight, with who?" asked Marine.

"Tia is my guess...or...someone else..."

Rouge shook her head. "Let's just get going." she said.

"We still have an hour, what shall we do?" Tails asked.

"Mother's choice."

_I would ask about someone being top heavy, but that's probably not the case right now._ thought Marine.  
"I guess we can go and get some sherbet." said Cream.

"Sherbet sounds good right about now." said Rouge. "Let's grab a few scoops."

"Okay, let's go." Tails agreed. So the girls went off to get scoops. On the way there, Muri started showing signs of discomfort.

"You know what I like about sherbet? The fact that it's ice cream made differently than the usual stuff." said Cream.  
"You can never turn away ice cream, can you?" asked Rouge.  
"Nope." Cream said happily.  
"I like how it's made with milk and sugar and cream." said Marine. "Speaking of milk..."  
"Marine, no..."  
"Any of you two donating?"

_And here we go..._ thought Cream and Tikal.

"D-donating?" Muri asked.  
"Marine, do me a favour. Stop - asking - in - **public!**" Tails told the raccoon.

"Let's just say I like milk from a girl's hootz, Muri." Marine cleared up.  
_Can I smack her one good time?_ thought Cream.

"Are you a lesbian?" Muri asked.

"Not sure... I guess I'm bi-curious." Marine answered.

Muri took in a deep breath and then cringed in pain slightly, before rubbing her chest. "Ouch..."  
"I'm gonna assume you're about to blow up top..." Tails said.  
"Have been for some time, but Kirika is usually the one who takes care of it..."

"Can I do it?" asked Marine.  
"Absolutely not!" Cream yelled. "Muri, come with me, away from the freaky raccoon and I'll help you out."

"Okay..." And Muri makes sure to hide behind Cream from Marine.

"Let's go... I got you covered."

Cream takes Muri to the privies while Tikal and Tails make sure Marine doesn't follow. Rouge just shook her head. _The last thing we need it Marine wanting to inject chocolate syrup into another lactating girl's chest._ she thought.

The two does enter the privie and Cream locks the door. "Trust me, Marine isn't always this weird." she said to Muri. "Usually, she's annoying or energetic. But she is dealing with issues at the moment."

"She wants breastfeeding, right?"

"It's a current fetish of hers... pregnant mothers." and Cream hands Muri a breast pump. "You know how to work one of these, right?"

"No... Kirika always did it." Muri replied. "Well, except the one time where I had to breastfeed, but...no, I haven't a clue."

Cream sweat drops. "O-kay. Well, I guess I'll have to show you. Um... you're gonna have to expose your girls."

"Um...okay but, I'd need to unzip the back of my dress and I can't reach..." Muri said, turning around.

"That's what I'm here for." and Cream works the zip. _Maybe I should've had someone else do this._ she thought.

"Why, is it a problem for you to do it?" Muri asked.

Cream stopped unzipping. She wasn't sure what to do as far as that reaction. "Anyway," she continued to work the zip to the middle of Muri's back. "I was wondering if Kirika is a boxer in her spare time."

"No, we just have issues..." Muri replied.

"Well, you're free on the zip, so...." And Muri lowers the top of her dress and rests it over her bump and then reaches to untie her bra, clearly not wearing a maternity bra, again however she was unable to reach, so Cream had to help out. "Anyway, Marine and Miley have been closely bonded as of late." Cream continued.

"Oh?" Muri questioned, turning around removing her bra and exposing her blouse.

Cream wigged out. "Sh-she loves her." Cream said.

Muri tilts her head. "Is...something wrong?"

"You're bigger than I am. But aside from that, they are close from it."

"Please keep in mind that mine are full of milk where yours are not..." Muri looked a bit sad. "They really hurt now..."

"Well, take this in your hand and I will help you adjust it to your breast." and Cream hands Muri the breast pump again.

Muri lifts the pump and looks at it funny. "Um...okay."

"So, which one first?"

"They hurt evenly, so the right one first..." Muri replied.

"Right. This round part is where you go. It's like placing yourself in the bra cup. Go ahead, try it on."

Muri nods and the proceeds to place the cup on her right breast.

"Okay, the thin tube works the pump. It uses air suction to cause stress to..." Cream stopped herself. "Sorry, you already know how it works. This knob here adjusts the pressure for you and this container is 6.5 ounces. Set your pressure accordingly and flip the switch." Muri tilts her head and does as she's instructed.

It took several minutes for Muri to completely empty, but the whole experience had caused her legs to give way and she was on her butt. "I'll never get used to that..." She sighed.

It was at that moment where Cream's nose got a stronger scent of Muri's pregnancy. "Is that normal for you go have your legs buckle like that?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"Do you usually end up on your butt after you milk yourself?"

"More recently..."

Muri lowered her head slightly. "It's hard as I get heavier and heavier everyday. Sometimes I can't even stay standing."

"Well, you could've told me that before you were hooked up."

"I forgot, why, is something wrong?"

"No, but having you go from a standing milking position to knees buckling and down on your rear is something I would like to avoid."

"My tummy is churning, mind if I stay here for a minute?" Muri sighed, rubbing her oversized belly.

"Why not? I am here to help you after all..."

However it wasn't long before a knock at the door. "What's going on? It doesn't take this long to empty up, does it?" Tikal asked from the other side.

"This isn't Miley, you know." Cream responded to Tikal.

"I'm just checking up on you, we're all a little concerned you know, myself especially."

"You act like I'm Marine."

"You know what I mean, Cream..." Tikal sighed on the other side.

Cream turned to Muri. "Has your bunny stopped rolling around?" she asked in a tone inaudible to Tikal.

"I think I'm safe to move..." Muri replied.

"We'll be right out, Tikal."

Muri then places her bra in place and Cream helps lock it in place, after that Muri lifted her dress back up and Cream does the zipper.  
"Thank you..." Muri said to Cream. "I hope I wasn't too difficult, I know you didn't want to do this."

"Let's just say I haven't done this with the other mother in the group." said Cream. "I'm just shocked to find that you were so tolerant."

"We're both girls and both rabbits, so why would I not be tolerant, especially since I was in pain..." Muri questioned, as she was helped to her feet.

"I didn't want to add to your issues." Cream answered. "Uh... any plans for this milk of yours?"

"Satisfy your friend." Muri said. "I have a personal question..."

Ask away." and Cream put proper tops on the containers.

"Do you love Miley too?"

"Of course. We're close too, but I'm not freaky like Marine. I do worry about her from time to time, but my mom says it's because I care."

"I know Miley is conflicted..."

"Are you done yet?" Tikal asked from the door, getting impatient.

"Trying to get Muri fully dressed here." Cream said.

"I'll wait with the other girls." And Tikal leaves.

"Don't tell me you have a thing for her too..." Cream returned to Muri.

"No, but I sense her angst..." Muri replied. "I already have a fox in my life...sorta..."

"Well, that's interesting to hear. And are you sure you want Marine to have this stuff?"

"Will it stop her from asking for a tittymeal?"

"Not as long as you're pregnant."

"Well....I doubt I can use it. It'd go bad before I get it frozen..."

"I'll hold onto it then."  
After that, and a bit of fixing up, both does return to the rest of the girls.

"Took you long enough." Blaze commented.  
"Sorry..." Muri said sadly.

"Cut it out." said Rouge. "For all we know, one of them had to take a wiz."

"So, let's go get those snacks, shall we?" Tails said.

Right" said Cream.

So the girls walk off towards their destination again.

"So, are the mothers okay?" Tikal asked.  
"I'm good." Tails replied.  
"Me too." Muri said.

"So, what's everyone's favourite type of ice cream?" asked Marine.

"Chocolate with Banana..." Muri said.

"Rocky Road for me." said Rouge.  
"I like Vanilla." Cream answered.

"Strawberry." Tails said.  
"I prefer Vanilla as well." Blaze said.  
"I prefer to mix flavours, so a Vanilla Chocolate Strawberry is great for me." Tikal smiled.

"Leave it to Mrs. Happy-go-Lucky to enjoy Neapolitan." said Marine.  
"Just leave me the strawberry section of Neapolitan, you can have the rest." said Cream.

"What's wrong with that?" Tikal asked Marine.

"You're just old-school when it comes to ice cream. Me, I have real taste when it comes to ice cream."

"Do tell." Muri said.

"Four words, luv: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough."

"Marine's ice cream.... Give me a tub of that, a pair of sweats, and a good movie marathon and I'm good for a few hours." said Rouge.  
"You're also gonna gain ten pounds from eating all of it by yourself." Cream joked.

All of a sudden Tails stops walking and squeaks a bit, before rubbing her stomach a little.

"Now your belly's rolling around?" asked Cream.

"I think she kicked me..." Tails said, her voice high, almost in shock.

"I guess your daughter has her own favourite kind of ice cream." said Marine.

"Can I feel?" Tikal asked, all giddily like a school girl.  
"Um, sure I guess." Tails replied. Tikal then rushed over and placed her hands on Tails belly.

_Tikal truly is excited about her baby._ Cream thought. _I guess I'll understand a little later._

"You know, you might as well let Tikal feel on your bump as well, Muri." said Marine.

"There's no action over here." Muri said.

"Oh wow, she _**is**_ kicking, that's magical. Rouge, you should feel this!" Tikal squealed.

"I might as well." said Rouge and walked over to get in on the foot action.

"Might as well enjoy it whilst she's active." Tails sweat dropped.

As a result, everyone got to feel Lavender's kicks, including Muri. the kicking put a smile on Muri's face, more than it did everyone else. including Marine.

_Miley seems so happy about all of this. I wonder why I can't have her enthusiasm..._ Muri wanted to feel bad, but it wasn't happening for her.

"I guess it's nice to know that she's active for a while." said Rouge.  
"Yeah, even unborn people needs love and friends." said Cream.  
_Love and support... for unborn people...._ the words seemed to echo in Muri's mind.

"Well, at least she'll have a lot of love and caring." Tails giggled, scratching her head.

"Both of your baby's will." said Marine.

"M-mine too?" Muri question, shocked.

"Of course yours too. Why wouldn't your baby not have TLC?"

"Well...because...you don't know me all that well..." Muri blushed and twiddled her fingers.

"And the only one else would be...Kirika."

"But you said it yourself that she helps you." said Cream.

"She does..."

"Is there something about Kirika that we should know that conflicts with your pregnancy?" asked Rouge.

"It's complicated..."

The girls looked amongst themselves. "Complicated huh?" asked Marine. "Looks like you two preggos are in the same boat besides baby classes..."

"I don't wanna talk about it. But, I wonder, do you have a responsible father for your baby?" Muri asked Tails.

Tails didn't quite know how to answer that one. "It's compromising." she told her friend.

"Likewise..."

"I guess we'll be strong that way."

"Is it that boy you were with in twinkle park?" Muri asked.

"You mean Daichi? Well...." Muri waited patiently. "No, not biologically."

"I see."

Muri then thought. "So...is he otherwise?"  
"I think we should change the subject." Tikal suggested.

"While on the baby thing, have you thought up a name for yours?" Tails asked.

"I don't know the gender."

"How come?"  
"That's fine." said Rouge, cutting off Tails. "Knowing the gender of your child after the birth is more exciting."

"No, I just haven't had a proper examination..." Muri corrected.

_I didn't know that one._ thought Tails.

"Anyway, are you done playing with the baby?" Muri asked.

"For now, she's stopped moving around." Tails answered. "I guess we can get going then."

"Yeah." So the girls continue on.

So the girls continued their walk along to grab their ice cream. Now despite the fact that Muri informed everyone about the lack of medical care, things have kept a pleasant mood. Once everyone arrived at the parlour, Tails and Muri went to grab a seat as the others watched them. "Now that those two are away from all of us, I want to make a very important point stick in your heads." said Cream.  
"What is it?" asked Rouge.  
"While I was helping Muri, that girl read my thoughts like it was nothing. So keep mental cues to a low profile."  
"No way, that's wicked cool." said Marine. "Well, to an extent anyway."  
"Anyway, cough up your green and I'll grab our treats." said Rouge.  
"Here, but I want a bowl and not a cone." Marine said as she hands Rouge her money.  
"Fine."

"She read your mind?" Tikal asked.

"Yeah and it really was something that had me change the mood." Cream answered as she passed her money to Rouge.  
"Hey you mums, do you want cones or bowls!" Marine yelled to Tails and Miley.

"Cone!" Muri called with a coy smile.

"Cone!" Tails called out.  
"Too bad, you're both getting bowls!" Rouge yelled back to them. "Tikal, Cream, you two come with me, and you girls rejoin our bumps over there."

Hey, that's not nice...she can't ask us and then refuse us..." Muri looked sad.

Tails giggled. "Remember, we aren't eating for ourselves." she reminded her friend.

"Bu-but...she...that's mean..." And Muri teared up a little bit.

"Hey, none of that. Besides, Marine asked the question and Rouge is being considerate for all four of us. You aren't lactose intolerant, are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You can eat milk-based ice cream, right?"

"I think so."

"Well, does eating milk-based ice cream make you sick?"

"No."

"Then please explain."

"I don't understand myself to explain anything..." Muri looked sad again.

"Oh, you mean that. Well, the four of us are you, me and our babies."

"I got that much,"

: Muri sighed. "I should be fine."

Meanwhile, with Rouge, Tikal and Cream, the other girls had gone back to the mothers-to-be.  
"What do you need?" Tikal asked.

"Help with carrying this stuff." Rouge answered.

"Why not use all of us instead of just us two, surely there's some other motive as to why you kept us aside from the others..." Tikal scratched her head.

"I don't need that much help carrying ice cream."

"Never mind." Tikal sighed. "I have a question though."

"Ask."

"If Muri can really read our minds, what's to stop her from finding out information we don't need or want her to know?"

"Just think about other stuff." Cream answered.  
"Also, call Dr. Quack. I'm gonna need to make an appointment." said Rouge.

"For what?" Tikal asked.

"For medical purposes. Just dial the number and give me the phone when we're in line."

"Before or after ice cream?"

"Call him while we're in line."

"Okay then," And Tikal takes her mobile and turns it on.

"We aren't in line yet." said Cream.

"Just turning it on." Tikal said. "It takes a while to load sometimes, we'd probably _finish_ the line if I turned it on later."

With that, the girls enter the line for orders. Tikal dials the hospital and puts the phone to her ear and waits.  
"This shouldn't take long." She said.

_I said while we're in line, not as soon as we got in line._ thought Rouge with a sweat drop.

So the line began, and after 4 minutes, Tikal pushed a button on her phone, then back to her ear. 8 more minutes, the line was still more than half to go and Tikal sighed. "I hate being on hold, at least play decent music." She said.

"Man, this is boring." said Cream. "At least Blaze and Marine are watching the pregnant girls."

"Yeah, I wonder if it would be 'safer' if it was Cream instead of Marine watching them." Tikal thought.

"Blaze will keep Marine in line."

"I gu- Oh hello, could I be passed onto Dr Quack please?" Tikal said, suddenly talking to the phone. "Oh, okay......back on hold." And she sighed again.

"Graceful." commented Rouge.

"We'll be done in line at this ra-..Oh, hello Dr Quack, how are you?" Tikal asked, before laughing nervously.

"Rouge wanted to arrange an appointment, I'll pass her on." And she offers the phone to Rouge. "Here you go."

Rouge takes the phone. "Hey doc, how are you..."  
Meanwhile, Blaze, Marine, Tails and Muri sat at the table.

"I'm kinda dizzy." Muri said, rubbing her head.

"Just relax." said Tails. "They shouldn't be too long."

"It's the sun." And Muri rests her head in her arms on the table.

"Let's get a table in the shade." offered Marine.

"Please..."

With a quick switch to a nearby table, and a chair in the shade, the girls were out of the sunlight. "Feeling a little better?" asked Marine.

"A bit..."

"Cool. That's good to know, but you should feel better after our treat." said Tails.

"The treat should make me feel bett-..." Muri was repeating happily before being interrupted.  
"Muri? What are you doing here and where is Kirika?" Said a voice from in front of her, it appear someone else had walked over.  
"Shena....go away, Shena." Muri said.  
"You insolent brat! Where's that stupid Kirika gone? She's finally gotten fed up with you and dumped you on these poor fools I see, what a shame." Shena barked angrily at Muri.

"What's your problem, Shena?" asked Tails.

"Nothing that concerns another careless girl." Shena barked at Tails. "Where is Kirika."  
"She's busy doing something else." Muri said.  
"Probably off getting shagged again, like the whore she is." Shena insulted. "Well, I better take you myself then."  
"Kirika is not a whore! And I'm not going anywhere with you!" Muri cried.  
"Stop whining like a brat, or I'll throw you in Irum's pen again."  
"Just go away!"

"I wasn't careless." said Tails.  
"Now you look here." said Marine. "I don't know what your problem is, but don't bring that crap to our table."

"To be pregnant, single and at your age, you were clearly careless, as for you, little rat, stay out of this." Shena said to Tails and then Marine, then turned her attention to Muri. "You, come with me, now!"  
"Okay, that's it, I've had enough." Blaze stood, hands flaming.  
"You can't touch a pregnant woman." Shena said to her.  
"I'd rather defend a bullied pregnant girl than care about forcing a bullying pregnant slut to leave. So, I'll only warn you once." Blaze yelled. "You don't bully my friends, no matter what your problem is."  
"Just you wait, Muri. When I get the chance, you'll spend a whole day with Irum, then we'll see how obedient you are. Later, losers..." And Shena left the table in a stress. Muri just buried her head in her arms and burst into tears and Blaze tried to cool down.

After the ordeal at the ice cream parlour, the girls were headed to the hospital. "So, anyone wanna talk about that rude broad Shena?" asked Marine.

"What was that bitch's problem anyway?" Blaze was still pissed.

"Shena is in our Lamaze class." Tails answered.

"That's not the point, she had an attitude." Blaze replied.  
"She hates me." Muri said.

"Who is Irum?" asked Tails.

"Um.....Kirika's daughter..."

"That doesn't explain much." Blaze said.  
"She's Kirika's daughter, but she's...a bit different than normal."

"And the pen is for?" asked Marine.

"To keep her contained." Muri sighed a bit. "She's uncontrollable, she's a raging monster. It's not something I should speak of in public."

"So, at least I know what you're going through now." said Cream.

"If we took a less public path to where we are going, I'll explain. I need to tell someone anyway..." Muri said.

It didn't take long for everyone to reach the hospital and get to the waiting room. "Well, now we just wait." said Rouge.

Muri looked around and saw it was empty but them. "Shall I tell you more or are you no longer interested?" She asked.

"We'd love to know, but let's so somewhere not so commercial." said Cream.

"So why are we here anyway? I'm not scheduled to come in again for another week." said Tails.

"Wait, you're not?" Muri questioned.

"Nope, she isn't." and out comes Dr. Quack. "So tell me young lady, who might your pregnant friend be?"  
"This is Muri, we're in the same Lamaze class." Tails answered.  
"Good, that answers my question." and Dr. Quack fixes his parabolic reflector. "I'll need you to come with me. Well, both of you mothers can come along."

"Wait, but I didn't..." Muri started.

"Don't worry, Miley here will give you all the support you need." said Dr. Quack. "Now come along, this won't be so bad."

Muri gave a sad look, but followed when Tails took her by the hand and pulled her toward Dr Quack, Muri followed surprisingly obediently, despite her former reluctance."

Cream looked towards Rouge. "Explain." she said.  
"After hearing how Muri hasn't gone through much medical care, so I figured an emergency check-up would do Muri wonders." Rouge told the other girls. "Besides, after hearing what just occurred, I think a check up can't hurt Muri."

"So, someone mind explaining what caused Muri to be so upset earlier?" Tikal asked.

Marine cleared her throat. "Shena came up and threatened to take her from us. She even cracked on-"  
"Let's just let it go." Cream cut Marine off.

"Who is this Shena person? A guardian of Muri?" Tikal asked.

"I know she's in the Lamaze, but she must know Muri beyond that."

"Who knows... but I believe Shena and Irum have to do with Muri's issues." Cream said.

"Irum sounds familiar..." Tikal said. "I wonder why."

"Either way, I've taken the liberty of letting my mom know about this incident." said Cream.

"I have known Kirika only a short time, but something tells me she's somewhat incapable. We'll see..."

Meanwhile back with Tails, Muri and the doc.  
"What am I here for?" Muri asked, scared.

"A check-up." Dr. Quack answered.

"But..."

"Don't worry, it won't cost you a thing. A certain bat and I arranged that one."

Muri gave in. "Okay..."

"Now relax on the table, this won't be rough."

"Can I get some help? I can barely lift myself off my own bum let alone onto a table..." Muri blushed.

Tails and Dr. Quack helped Muri onto the table. "Muri, what's the deal with Shena wanting to put you in 'line' like that?" asked Tails.

"In line?"

"I don't want to repeat how she used her tone."

"A good way to explain...take an ageist, a racist and a sexist, throw it all together with an attitude where she hates generally everything else, you have Shena." Muri said. "But....I don't know why she hates me, she always has."

"I feel sorry for her baby." said Tails.  
"She has a child?" asked Dr. Quack.  
"She's in our Lamaze class." Tails and Muri say.

"I see. Well, let's get back to our affairs."

After everything went through, the girls rejoined their group. "So, how did everything go?" asked Cream.  
"Well." Tails answered. "Despite being sad and late on check-ups, both of them are fine."  
"Muri's a lucky lady." said Dr. Quack.  
"We also found out about Muri's child too from a picture."  
"Nice." said Marine. "So what's the verdict, Muri?"

"At least we're healthy..." Muri replied.

"And your bunny, buck or doe?" asked Cream.

"Buck."

"Well, that's good to hear."

Everyone turns around. "Mom, I'm so glad you're here." said Cream.  
"Good to see you again." said Marine.

"Hello again." Muri said to Vanilla.

"So you're having a boy, congratulations." said Vanilla. "Miley, we may have to schedule him and lavender a play date sometime."

"Thank you." Muri blushed slightly. "What do you mean 'play date'?"

"After both of you girls have your kids, in addition to having them used to mom for a few months, the two of you can get together and let the buck and vixen become baby buddies."

"Childhood friends, how lovely." Tikal smiled gleefully. "And you always have Knuckles little brother as well, you can make a trio."

"I forgot about Kneecaps... though, he'll be the oldest." said Tails.

"Well, Knuckles is the oldest of you, Sonic and himself, so it makes sense, right?" Tikal continued. "I'm glad to know everything's all well with you and your son, Muri."  
"Thank you." Muri replied.

"Yeah, we all love cosplay." said Cream.  
"Moving on, let's get you girls to my place." said Vanilla.  
"But what about Kirika?" asked Tails.  
"Don't worry, it's okay."

"Weren't we supposed to meet her?" Blaze asked.

"Relax, let's just go." Vanilla assured all of the girls.  
"Go on ahead, I have a few words with the doc." said Rouge.

"Okay." Blaze said, and the girls follow Vanilla, except for Rouge who stays behind.

Dr. Quack just watched them go. "Well, now it's your turn." he said.  
"Yup." said Rouge.

*

It took twenty minutes, but the girls managed to get to Vanilla's apartment. Once there, Blaze and Marine left for the Ocean Tornado and Tikal headed off to prepare for her show.

"Thanks for this, Vanilla." said Tails.  
"No problem, girls." said Vanilla. "Muri, how's the tea?"

"It's...different..." Muri said.

"By the way, Kirika is asleep in the back. We'll let her sleep for now."

"I'm confused now." Muri said.

"Is she okay?"

"Just tired."

"Oh, okay." Muri said. "Also, I decided, the tea has a unique taste to it. I like it."

"So what now?" asked Tails.  
"Simple." Vanilla began. "Muri and Kirika are going to stay the night here. You're welcome to stay.... no, I encourage you to stay with Muri. Besides, you two have class tomorrow and I was informed of your Shena incident."

"Shena is just a big bul-..." Muri stopped and squeaked. "Oh my...it must be about 8 or 9 o'clock..."

"I see." said Vanilla. "Well you two, better relax. I wanna make sure that both of you have a nice night. But for now, lie back in your seats and expose those kids of yours. I'll need to walk in the back for a moment and grab something." and off into the back she went.

"Muri, I wanna tell you something." said Tails.

"Oh?" Muri questioned, looking at Tails.

"I wanna tell you about... my situation."

"Your situation?"

"The truth is... I was raped. My rape was the biggest, horrifying, dramatic and painstaking moment of my life." the fox began fighting back her tears. "As a result of being raped, I got pregnant. I had to suffer electric shocks, vaginal tearing and scraping... and a lot of psychological hell.

"It was rough for me... no, it is rough for me. Sure, I have all of my friends here, but I still have... I still have omens from my rape. It was something I will never forget, but I don't blame Lavender for any of it. I chose to keep her because I wanted to be able to... be able to remain strong through all of this. I have no regrets about anything that I've done so far. And on the plus side, I've met some interesting faces... both friendly and unfriendly."

"I.....I see...." Muri was at a loss for words. _How do I reply to that...? _She thought.

"I figured that I would tell you so you wouldn't have to feel so bad about yourself anymore."

"My child is......" _No....I can't tell anyone, he'd never forgive me and I'd be thrown with Irum... _She thought. "I feel sorry for you."

"Being raped is rough, but living through it takes real strength. I don't know what happened to you before we entered the Lamaze class, but let's be strong together."

"Yeah, I can do that." Muri smiled. "At least we know one thing..."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, no matter our hardships, our babies will grow up happy and will always have a friend, each other. Right?"

"Sure. Now you were going to mention something at the hospital?"

"Irum..."

"Tell me."

Muri leaned back in her chair. "She's insane and always has been. She's kept in a cage, shackled to a wall, for safety..."

"That's so cruel."

"She is often used as a punishment for me...whenever I am disobedient."

"You mean by Shena?"

"Not just Shena, Tia, and...Nazaruda. The only one who saves me from it is Kirika who ends up taking a beating from Tia or Shena in replace."

_That's why she sounded so weak..._ Tails had a disdainful look on her face. "Wow, that was something crazy."

"It's a good way to keep me in line...it isn't fun to have both your arms broken in 3 or 4 different ways..."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, but I forgive Irum for it..."

"So, the reason you deal with Shena is because you have to?"

"I don't like to tempt Irum, she's blood thirsty, but I got off very easy the last time. So I put up with Shena and Tia's abuse..." Muri was becoming upset, clearly.

"But what's the real deal with Nazaruda?"

"He's a hard topic." Muri said. "He....well..."

Tails wrapped her arm around Muri. "You don't have to explain anymore."

"Irum has the mind of a child, she should be taken in 'real' care. She can't learn any better because she's unreasonable. The reason I came out unscathed last time was because I was thrown in naked and I ended up breast feeding her." Muri said. "I want to save her, she's not safe where she is..."

"Okay girls, I'm back." Vanilla returned with a bottle of vitamin oil. "And apparently you two were busy storytelling to bare those bellies of yours. Now, let's see those kids of yours."

With a bit of help, Muri and Tails had their bare bellies out and exposed. Muri's bellybutton was popped out, a normal sign for most pregnant mothers, while Tails' bellybutton looked normal. _And here they are, a fox's daughter and a rabbit's son._ Vanilla thought to herself. _Sure, the gestation periods are galaxies apart, but each of them can have a bright future ahead of them._ Vanilla sits down in from of Tails and Muri. "As you can see, this is the vitamin oil that I will be placing on those round kids of yours." she explained. "The purpose of this is to make sure the two of you relax and enjoy a bit of peace and tranquillity.

"Think of it as a mini spa treatment, for delivering mothers."

Muri smiled slightly as she rubbed her own belly, she began humming an unfamiliar tune, but it was somewhat catchy as a lullaby.

"What's that called?" asked Tails.

"Huh?" Muri questioned. "Oh, that song? It's not called anything, it's something that Kirika always sings whenever I get scared and she has to pat me down."

"I have to grab something, be right back." said Vanilla as she got up and left the girls to themselves.  
"Well, I guess we're gonna be a lot closer when all of this is over." said Tails.

"I'm glad we met. But, whilst we're again alone, I wanted to know if you wanted to talk about something that I sense is bothering you?" Muri replied.

"Like what?"

"The crossroad you're stuck in."

"I guess it's because I'm unsure of what lies ahead for us. Sure, I have a lot of support and care, but there is a lot that I just want to leave behind... yet, I can't."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure... I guess it's new mother's worries."

"I was more or less talking about the 'love crossroad', which from what I feel involves your friends Marine, Cream, Daichi and a hedgehog who you have long been friends with, but have deeper feelings for." Muri then stopped and covered her mouth. "Oh no, I'm doing it again. I shouldn't." And she bopped herself on the head. "Bad Muri, Bad."

"Yeah, I guess I'm playing the field right now."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't pry."

"Is there something you aren't telling me?"

"I sometimes sense things, not by choice. Sometimes people will think things and I hear it almost like they said it normally..." Muri said. "It's not something I choose to do, it just happens."

"Oh..."

"If I were to go on...I sense that you love one dearly, and one just slightly less, but still do, but you're uncomfortable with same gender relationships. Then there's Daichi, who only leaves you with confusing feelings, but there is something there...and then there's the last one. The one you love with your whole heart, but feel he won't accept you as anything more than a friend..." Muri explained.

"Yeah... I think I'll leave that alone."

"I'm being weird aren't I?" Muri said. "Sorry, I don't want to creep you out, forget I said anything."

"I think I understand why Shena wants to lock you up constantly all of a sudden."

"D-d-does th-that mean that you...want to hate me too?" Muri asked, budging away from Tails, slightly scared of her now.

"No, but I think this mind peering thing is probably a reason why Shena seems to hate you. You said that this 'gift' of yours happens unintentionally for some reason. Perhaps there was a time in your life that you mentally overheard something regarding Shena and she found out. You then managed to enrage her by some reason which lead to abuse... maybe the trauma caused you to forget about that, or the event was somehow erased from your mind completely. But that's just my guess."

"Can you read minds too?"

"No. Some call me a genius, but I'm nonow mind reader... or soothsayer for that matter."

"You hit that on the head..."

"Oh... I guess we should try not to pry into each other, huh?"

"I can't tell you what I know of Shena. Because she can threaten to kill me all she wants and I'd still tell, but she knows how to keep me quiet..."

"It sucks..."

"You're so active at nights, silly boy..." Muri said, poking her own belly, which then seemed to move in reply.

"At least he's aware of things."

"Yeah, I guess." Muri replied.

"Him being aware of things is good though."

"I know. But...sometimes he makes me feel like I am about to burst open. I often have to keep very still until the feeling goes away."

"Unborn children can sometimes be a handful." said Vanilla as she stood behind the girls. "Sorry about the delay, I was checking on your aunt."

"Is she okay?"

"Just tired and stressed. Cream is making sure to keep her in a peaceful state." Vanilla cleared up for Muri. "Currently, she's giving her a massage."

"Oh, that's good." Muri replied with a smile.

"Now, how about we deal with those kids of yours?"

"Okay."

Vanilla walked around and sat in front of the two girls again, then pulled out a spray bottle. "Now we'll begin." she said with a smile on her face. "Think of this as a quick little wash."

Vanilla began spraying Muri's belly. The sprayed liquid was an off blue colour and appeared to make Muri's belly shine. After that, it was Tails' turn and the liquid had the same effect. "You know something Muri, I was the one who found out about Miley being pregnant here." she said.

"Oh?" Muri questioned.

"She was very scared about her pregnancy early, and even hid it... or at least she tried to. You couldn't believe how worried she was when I found out. It took her a while to finally muster up the courage to tell all of us."

"I...I see..."

"It took her a while to understand that there was no need to hide anything from me."

"Well, finding out you're pregnant isn't always the greatest experience." Muri said. "When you're scared to tell people..."

"Both of your cases were like that."

"Yeah, you can say that." said Tails.

"This stuff tickles..." Muri said, referring to the sprayed liquid.

"Yup... and now for the removing." said Vanilla and began to wipe off the two bellies.

Muri's belly was wiped off first, then Tails' belly, resulting in two nicely shined bumps. "And there you go, all clean." said Vanilla with a smile. "Muri, I want you to know that if you have any questions, feel free to ask me."

"Like what?"

"Your choice, however I can help."

"I think I am okay for now, but I am getting sleepy."

"Looks like you're starting to relax." said Tails.

And Muri closes her eyes.

"And what about you, Miley?" asked Vanilla.  
"This does help me relax." Tails answered.  
"Good. Now I will rub the vitamin oil on both of you."

Vanilla poured some of the oil into her hand, rubbed it in both hands, then onto Muri's belly. A smile never left her face as this process occurred and Tails was at a loss for words. _One thing about Vanilla that will always remain, is that she truly gives a mother's love to anyone who needs it._ she thought. _Muri must go through a lot when she leaves class. And to have Kirika fight for her just so Muri can try to have a safe term? no wonder she rarely smiles. So much worry in her heart... at least she can finally relax, at least for one night._

"Thank you...for all this..." Muri said, sleepily, her eyes still closed.

"Don't you believe that you deserve this?" asked Vanilla.

"Is to thank mean I don't feel deserving?"

"Being grateful is different from being deserving."

Muri opens her eyes a little. "Then I don't understand your question..."

"Don't you believe that you deserve the chance to relax and feel loved?"

"I don't know."

"Do you believe that your son should be loved?"

"He deserves to be happy....something that....won't happy if I have to be near Tia and Shena..." Muri looked like she was about to cry again. "Kirika can't keep us safe forever..."

"No, but she will try." said Tails. "Kirika won't give up fighting for you, you've seen it."  
"You even have some support from us as well." said Vanilla.

"Thank you." And Muri closed her eyes again and rested her head back.

"Now for the baby girl." and Vanilla poured more oil into her hand to apply to Tails' belly. "What is certain is that both of you have so much in common, more than you think."

"Oh?" Muri asked.

"I understand why you hid, Muri."

"Do you?"

"Yes, and it deals with that Nazaruda fellow."

"Take that guy Hiei, remove emotions, give him insanity and severe violence and you're still not at Nazaruda..."

"I guess his raping you only makes more sense, doesn't it?"

Muri lowers her head. "Um...."

"You don't have to comment on it. But that's the general deal you're going through. It's because of him that you're pregnant. And because of him that you hid it from everyone, even your aunt. You don't have to feel regret or shame for it. Stones won't be thrown by us."

"How on earth did you guess that?" Muri looked at Vanilla, tears falling down her face. "No one knows, so how did you...?"

"Your disdain and uncertainty when you speak of him, or even hear his name... it's like torture to you. I overheard your talk about it and put everything together. In truth, you told the story yourself, but not in the exact way.

"Regardless, you don't have to hide it from me. I may not know your pain, but I know how to ease it."

Muri couldn't reply, just let the tears flow from her eyes as she could no longer contain her sadness.

_Whoa...._ Tails thought.  
"Go ahead and let your tears flow, Muri."" Vanilla finished rubbing Tails belly down. "Know that you are in calming arms tonight. You and your aunt."

Muri wiped her face and then buried it in her palms, trying in vain to calm down.

Tails wrapped her arm around Muri. "Allow me to lend you my strength... and my shoulder to cry on." she said. Muri simply couldn't contain herself and she wrapped her arms around Tails and cried hard.

Vanilla took this time to hum softly, rubbing Muri's belly in the process. _Yes... we should calm her down soon._ she thought.

It took Tails and Vanilla five minutes to calm Muri down, but the young doe finally ceased her tears and crying. Which is a good thing too, as Vanilla was sensing the pregnant does becoming distressed. As a result, more rubdowns were given to Muri and it helped her out.

Cream managed to walk out from the back and brought out some blankets for the girls. Both of them were changed into pyjamas, Muri borrowing some maternity PJ's from tails, propped up and blanketed before heading off to sleep.

Tails fell asleep soundly. However, Muri still couldn't rest.

"Muri, you still can't settle yourself for sleep..." said Vanilla.

"...no...sorry..." Muri replied.

"Well, we're the only ones up, so you might as well tell about your mood."

"He makes me so miserable..."

"Well, his misery can't and won't harm you here. Even if you feel the world is at an end, you have somewhere to turn."

"Yeah, I know." Muri replied. "I'll be okay though, thanks. Miley told me she experienced the same thing. Isn't it a weird coincidence that two girls of a similar age, go the same Lamaze class, have the same problems and the same type of conception?"

"Perhaps, but think of it as a blessing."

"Yeah, I guess." Muri said. "So, what's going to happen now?"

"You will rest here and then we will see." Vanilla answered. "Besides, Lamaze class is tomorrow, so it's best to buddy up and go."

"Yeah...So, will you tell me what happened to Kirika?"

"You really do care about your aunt, don't you?"

"She's the only one who looked after me before today... Without her, I'm lost."

"Well, she's fine now. What's best is that you know that your family is safe here."

"Okay, thank you..." Muri said. "Could I get something to drink please?"

"Like what?" asked a curious Vanilla.

"Just a glass of water would do fine."

"Sure." Vanilla gets Muri a glass of water, then gives her the glass.

Muri takes the glass. "I'll try to sleep after this."

Vanilla smiled. "Get your rest, Muri. and no more thoughts that'll cause you to cry. You and Kweli need to relax."

Kweli?" Muri questioned.

"Of course." and Vanilla rubs Muri's head. "It's something that came in my head as I rubbed our belly. I guess that's what I chose to call that young buck of yours."

"Kweli..." Muri repeated to herself. "Thank you, Vanilla. Good night."

"Sleep well you two." and Vanilla finally saw Muri drift off to sleep.  
"Are those two finally down for the night?" Cream asked as she approached her mother. She rubbed her eyes as her right hand was touching the wall.  
"Yes, Muri and Kweli are down for the night." Vanilla answered.  
"Kweli huh... that's a nice name for a buck."  
"Yes, I think so too. But that's Muri's choice whether to officially name her son that or not."

With this said, Cream and Vanilla retire to Vanilla's room. Once again, the household was at peace and silence accompanied all who dwelled here.


	22. Chapter 22

((Short one, but it's first person. Enjoy.))

I'm swimming...in a sea? In the ocean? I can look around all I want, but all I can see is the blue, the endless blue, but I feel the water on my skin. Am I drowning? No...I'm not breathing... Am I dead already? No, that can't be right. This endless blue, the darkness around me, but I feel safe...I'm secure... I like this feeling...

*

I awake slowly, the light from the room burning my vision, causing my eyes to clench. It's not so bad. I wait for a short moment before I open my eyes again, and the room focuses. _This isn't my usual room..? _I thought. _Where am I? _I look around, and then it becomes clear. _Oh yes, I am at that nice ladies house, Vanilla._ I stretch a little and shift my body ever so slightly.

This place is nice, colourful and...tranquil. Unlike the place Nazaruda dumps me all the time...Dank, scankie and horrible... I peer around the room once more, it never accrued to me the many objects in this room, if it is said that one's house is made by the personality of the house, and then Vanilla is the nicest and most beautiful lady I've ever met. I shift my body to the right a little, and only again become apparent to my large belly. _Oh baby...you're brought to the world in such a cruel way...If only I could promise you the protection you'll need..._ I thought.  
"I see you're waking up." I heard a voice say to me. I shift myself again and peer around, coming eye to eye with Vanilla  
"Um...yeah..." I said to her.  
"Would you like some breakfast? You really should keep your strength up."  
"Breakfast...sounds nice." I told her. She smiled at me. "But, can you help me up?" I asked.  
"No, not yet. Rest a little more." Vanilla told me.  
"Oh...okay."

I sat and waited patiently on the couch, it was a large chair, so I had plenty of room and it was very comfortable. I wonder what the events of the day will be like. I don't like the idea of the Lamaze class today...Shena is going to be there...

I see Vanilla return from the kitchen. She pulls up a chair and sits next to me.  
"So, how are you feeling now, Muri?" She asked me.  
"Better...thank you." I replied.  
"That's good. Shall we give your baby a nice quick massage before you begin to move around?" She offered.  
"That'd...be nice, thank you."

Vanilla helped me out of the small made up bed I was in and I placed my feet on the ground, before I exposed my large baby bump to her. Even now, I still don't know how I got into this. I have a baby inside me...one that scares me. But am I scared of the child? Or what will become of the child?  
"So, did you have a nice dream?" Vanilla asked.  
"Um, it was the same one I've always had these days."  
"Oh, what one is that?"

"The one where I am floating in the endless blue. Like water." I saw Vanilla give me an odd look, even for just a moment.  
"I see." She said. "Well, better than some of the dreams our little fox told us."  
"Oh?" I questioned.  
"They're best left unsaid."  
"Oh..."

It was a short while, but the massage felt good on my tummy and Vanilla was so nice to me..._Is...Is this what it is like to have a mother? _I thought to myself.  
"I wish I could stay here forever..." I said, unintentionally speaking my mind. I think I caught Vanilla off guard though and I covered my mouth. "Um, forget what I said, I need the bathroom, can I go to the bathroom please?" I pleaded.  
"Of course, calm down or you'll put too much stress on yourself, let's go." Vanilla helped me to stand and then led me to the house bathroom, where I went in alone. "Will you be okay on your own?" She asked.  
"Maybe, but I'll leave the door unlocked encase I get stuck." I replied, blushing due to my embarrassment.

I stayed in the bathroom for 10 minutes, sat on the throne. _I can't believe I just said that to her...she's gonna think I'm weird... _I thought to myself. I looked around and used nearby objects to help myself done, as I finished on the privy, I cleaned myself up and washed my hands and face, before I left for the living room. It appeared Miley was still asleep, she must have it rough sometimes... I walked into the kitchen and saw Vanilla cooking something.  
"Hello again." I said to her. "Sorry about earlier...I shouldn't say weird things."  
"It's okay; it's nice to feel wanted." Vanilla said. "Well, go find a seat somewhere; I need to wake up the girls." And Vanilla left the kitchen. I couldn't help but be curious, so I walked over to see what was cooking...but I didn't know what it was, it was too goopy to make out..._Fresh slop?_ I thought to myself. _I shouldn't be rude..._ I walked back out of the kitchen and into the living room, Miley was stirring it appeared. She opened her eyes and looked at me.  
"Good morning, Cream..." She said, sleepily.  
"I'm Muri..." I said to her. Miley rubbed her eyes and looked again.  
"Oops, sorry, I wasn't awake."  
"It's okay."  
"How are you?"  
"Better, you?"  
"I'm okay."  
"That's good. Ms Vanilla is cooking up some breakfast I think."  
"Oh? What is she making?"  
"Looked like cookie dough and some gunk." I replied.  
"Sounds like porridge, have you never had porridge before?"  
"Um...no..." I replied.  
"And I think that 'gunk' is Jam."  
"Oh..."  
"You haven't had Jam either, huh?"  
"....maybe."

"You'll like Vanilla's cooking, it's heaven on earth." Miley told me.  
"Really?" I asked.  
"Really really."  
"I'd like to learn how to cook." I told her.  
"That can be arranged." Said Vanilla, seems she came back and Cream was here too, but she looked exhausted.  
"You look like you didn't sleep well."  
"Cupcakes..." Cream replied sleepily.  
"Giant talking cupca-..." _Did she just fall asleep on her feet?_ I thought to myself. Vanilla gave her a quick shake to wake her up "Okay, okay, I'm awake..." And she walked off to sit down.

I looked at Vanilla. "You'll teach me how to cook?" I asked her.  
"I can." She replied. "But let's wait for a little bit, you should rest some more, you have a long day ahead of you."  
"Okay." I walked off and returned to the couch and heard a thump, Cream had smacked her head on the table as she'd gone back to sleep. _She must have not gotten much sleep... _I thought.  
"Cream, are you okay?" Miley asked, but was answered only with unintelligible groaning from the doe.  
"I guess she had a rough night." I said.

I caught a whiff in the air, an aroma strange to me. _What is that? _I asked myself in thought.  
"Smells like food is almost ready." Miley said.

I heard three wraps at the door, and got worried as to whom I thought it would be. _I hope they haven't found me..._ I thought to myself in worry, Miley could clearly sense my worry.  
"Muri, come over here." She said to me, I obeyed her and walked over. "Don't worry, it's just some guests."  
"Cream, honey, get the door." Vanilla called, and after more unintelligible jabbering, Cream left to answer the door, coming back with that girl Tikal and some strange pink hedgehog in a red dress.  
"Morning everyone." Tikal smiled happily.  
"Hello." I replied. The hedgehog smiled around.  
"How are you and Lavender, Tails?" She asked. _Tails? _I thought to myself, looking at Miley.  
"Amy, what have I said about calling me that outside of cosplay parties?" Miley looked angry.  
"Oops, my bad, sorry Miley." _Oh, I see, she uses Tails because that's who she cosplays as._ "Back to my question, how are you two?"  
"We're fine."  
"Who's this?" Amy asked, looking at me.  
"M-my name is Muri..." I said.  
"She's in my Lamaze class."  
"I see." Amy said.

Vanilla came out from the kitchen with a large bowl. "Just in time girls, I've enough for everyone." She said. "How are you feeling Amy?"  
"Grimy and dirty." Amy replied.  
"Didn't learn anything then?"  
"I don't wanna talk about it right now."  
"Very well. Come on girls, breakfast is served." Slowly the group was gathered around the table, of course I needed help in getting comfortable, having a tummy bigger than a giant watermelon makes movement a lot more difficult.

We enjoyed a nice breakfast around the table, and I got to know Amy a little, she seems really friendly, even if deep down she's a troubled woman, I better not look into it.

I finished my food and looked around, Kirika must still be sleeping, she isn't here. I guess whatever happened was worse than I am being told...no, I shouldn't think that.

I leaned back slightly and exposed my baby, trying to get comfortable, but my back was seizing up and it hurt. I cringed slightly and Vanilla was quick to escort me to the couch, where I was able to get more comfortable.  
"You shouldn't do that in those wooden chairs." She told me.  
"I...I'm sorry..." I said.  
"It's okay, just be careful." She told me, and then returned back to the others. I decided to get back to resting a little; perhaps it'll be okay if I drift off to sleep for a little while? I'm sure no one will complain...So, I closed my eyes and got comfortable.

I opened my eyes, but my location had completely changed. I was...in a pen? A cage..._I guess it was all a dream after all. _I looked to my left, then my right, my hands are shackled to the walls. _But, wait...I...What's going on? _I look forward, a grey fox walked up toward me, and I feel very hostile towards him, leaping forth in a mindless rage, only to be held back by my chains.  
"Now now, Irum. Calm down or you won't get fed." I begin to relax..._wait...Irum? I'm not Irum... _"Now, I need you to use your powers, sense for me the gems. They're vital if I am to conquer this world." _Conquer the world? _I feel more violent, Leaping forth again, only I am struck and knocked to the ground, I recover, but I am kicked, and I feel the pain coursing through me. The fox begins to them pummel me into the ground and...

I'm shaken awake, I peer around in a panic, but Vanilla's eyes sooth me as I realise I am free from my vision.  
"What happened?" I asked. "I closed my eyes only for a minute..." I could feel my tears coming to my face.  
"Shhh, just remain calm now, you don't have to worry, shh.." Vanilla soothed me, pulling me into a hug.

I did as I was told and relaxed, she allowed me to rest my head back, but I couldn't bear to repeat what I had dreamt, I wanted to forget. _Irum...is that what Nazaruda is doing to you now? I wish I could help you...so that I could stop feeling your pain..._

It was another half an hour, and Cream had brought out a strange looking device and connected it to the large television. _What manner of contraption is that? _I wonder. Miley takes up some strange looking remote, as Cream does the other and the television turns on and I read the logo.  
"Nintendo Wii?" I asked.  
"Yeah, you've never played the Wii?" Miley asked me.  
"It's a game?"  
"No, it's a console, it plays games." Cream cleared up. "We're gonna play Mario Kart for a little while."  
"I see..." I moved to place my feet on the ground and let the girls sit on the couch with me. I rested back again, as did Miley and the games began. I saw a strange variety of characters on this game, and some of them were funny. Cream won some games and Miley won some games, but it was undetermined who was better.  
"Want to play, Muri?" Tails asked.  
"I...I wouldn't know how."  
"It's easy, come play with us." Cream smiled at me.  
"Oh...um, okay." and so I was passed a strange remote, but I was curious what I was to do with it. Cream was nice enough to explain, and Amy came over and the screen was split into four. We had to choose our characters, so I thought that the little green dinosaur would be a good choice, but Miley selected him, so I took the girl in the pink dress with blonde hair. I think she was called 'Princess Peach.' It sounded cute. Cream was a little mushroom girl and Amy was a....baby...bowser? It confused me a lot.

We played for a long time, but I couldn't get the controls, so I kept coming last, but at least everyone else was having fun. Amy wasn't very good herself either, but I eventually tired of this game and retired it to Tikal, who happily took over, I preferred just to watch. _I like having friends, at least they're having fun, and I am too..._ I thought to myself.


	23. Chapter 23

The girls just wrapped up the racing against each other and the Wii was turned off. "So Amy, how was your period of exploring?" asked Cream.

"It could have been better." Amy replied.

"How so?"

"It wasn't what I'd call fun."

"That's a bit of a bummer." said Tails.

"If it was some kind of punishment, it worked." And Amy sighed.

Cream looked toward her mother, who simply shrugged. "So, does this mean you ran out of stuff to wear?" Cream guessed.

"Yup."

"Wow, how long did that take?" asked Tails.

"I...fell in a swamp." Amy scratched her head. "Constantly..."

Cream and Tails laughed after hearing that. "You really should get contact lenses." said Vanilla.

"It all looked the same! So sue me."  
"You're a total city girl aren't you?" Muri said.  
"What do you mean? Amy Questioned.  
"Well, when in a wild environment, you have to learn where things are to avoid making the same mistakes twice."

"I wonder what you ate in all that time..." said Cream.

"Fruit." Amy replied. "And I found Big who provided some fish we shared."

"Don't you know how to fish?" asked Tails.

"I do, but Big is better at it."

Tails just rubbed her belly. "So aside from this experience in the wilderness, when was the last time you went fishing?" asked Cream.

"Give or take a few years ago..." Amy replied. "Me and Big had a good deal going, he'd fish and I'd cook." She shrugged.

"Which means you haven't fished at all."

"I tried at first...then made the deal." Amy sweat dropped. "Big was happy with it."

"You can't fish for all the fashion sense in the world. What a shame..."

"Oh stop it. At least it's over..." and Amy gave another sigh.

"I remember when I went fishing with Big. We sat there for hours on that boat, but the company was great. We caught a few fish, but they were too small and we threw them back. Then I reeled in an eighteen 150kg fish... it actually pulled me out of the boat.

"If it wasn't for that fact that I took flight before hitting the water, I probably would've been all wet."  
"Speaking of wet, how did you keep clean out in the ruggedness, Amy?" asked Tails.

"Please....I don't want to talk about that." Amy said.  
"She didn't. I took her to my place to get cleaned up before coming here." Tikal said.  
"Tikal!"  
"What?"

"I wanna comment on that, but I won't." said Tails. "It was bad enough that you barely managed to eat."

"Oh shut up!" Amy snapped. "As if I haven't had it bad enough, without you all being assholes about it..."

"Such negative language with children present..." Vanilla said in a scolding manner.

Amy simply sighs. "You know what, I'm just going to leave. I'm not going to be laughed at." And Amy headed to leave the house.

"Fine, then I guess you don't want in on the treat."

Amy stops walking and peers over her shoulder. "What treat?"

"My treat. But if you'd rather leave, then I won't stop you."

"I don't like being laughed at. So I can't survive in the wilderness like you all can, I'm not made for that type of thing." Amy turned to face them.

"What type of thing are you made for?" asked Tails.

"I'm a city girl."

"Well look at it this way, at least you got to go out into the wilderness. I can't go in my state..." and Tails' ears began to droop.

"You actually enjoy that sort of thing?" Amy asked.

"I find it tranquil. Besides, I do cosplay someone who is believed to live in a workshop on the outskirts of a jungle."

"Eh..." Amy said. "Fine, I'll stay, but I am not talking about my 'great adventure' anymore." Amy said, with emphasis and mocking quotations with her fingers on 'great adventure'.

"So what about this treat?" asked Cream.  
"Not telling, you'll have to come along for the ride." Vanilla answered.

"I'm getting hungry." Muri said, looking a little sad.

"There's still some leftovers from breakfast." Vanilla said with a wink. "Feel free to grab some... after you get help standing up."

"Allow me." Tikal said, before wondering to and helping Muri stand.  
"Thank you." And Muri went off to find the leftovers.  
"She's a sweet girl..."

"Cream, give Miley a hand up too." said Vanilla.  
"Right." Cream said and offered her hand to Tails.  
Tails was confused, but took the hand and stood. "Is there something I should know about?" she asked.  
"Nothing serious, just an introduction is in order." said Vanilla.

Muri looked over her shoulder. "Introduction?" She questioned.

"Of course. You should introduce Kweli to Lavender, Muri." and Vanilla giggled.

And Muri tilts her head. "What?" She asked.

"I think a 'How' is in order." said Tails. "And who is Kweli?"  
Vanilla giggled again. "Ah, the old ways truly are lost in the young of today." she said. "Miley, you and Muri should expose those bumps of yours and hug. Making sure your bumps touch in the process."

Tails looked at Muri. "O-kay... but that doesn't answer my other question."  
"I think Kweli is Muri's baby... right?" asked Cream.  
"Bingo."  
"Kweli. So that's what you've decided to name him, Muri?" asked Tails.

"Well...maybe." And Muri blushed. "It sounds nice, I guess."

"It does sound nice." said Vanilla. "What do you other girls think?"

"It's cute." Tikal said.  
"I prefer something like Nigel or Tom." Amy said.  
"Yeah, and I prefer Jerry, but this isn't your kid, so live with it." Tikal countered.

"Use better words, Tikal." said Cream.

"Tom and Jerry is a great show though..." And Tikal pouted.

"I know Marine's a fan of Droopy." said Tails. "But why sound so uncertain about that name, Amy?"

"I'm not uncertain, I just prefer other names." Amy replied.

"I would've thought Tikal had mentioned it to you, Vanilla. Kweli does sound tribal." said Tails.

"Anyway, about that introduction..." Muri said, changing the subject.

"Oh yeah, I guess we better show bellies again." said Tails.

Muri lifts up the stretched pyjama top, and her belly comes into full view, she unintentionally gave a sneak peek of her unbra'd breasts, but covered them.

Tails exposed her belly as well. "This is gonna be really weird, but I guess it's worth a try." she said.

Muri simply shrugged. "Could be fun." She smiled.

_This is gonna look so cheesy._ thought Cream.  
"Anyway, it's time to give an introduction." said Tails, too busy trying to keep from laughing. "This is my daughter Lavender..." still trying to keep from laughing. "And who might this be?" Clearly, Tails was embarrassed.

"I think you're making it more embarrassing for yourself." Muri tilted her head, then gave a big smiled. "This is Kweli." She said, but a blush formed so she clearly was also just as embarrassed about it.

"And what is Kweli, might I ask?"

"A buck rabbit." Muri replied, she had a look of confusion on her face.  
_What is this? A drama rehearsal? _Amy thought.

"Clearly, you girls need a little help." said Vanilla. "Let's try this again... and Muri, don't feel bad about your baby."

"I...I don't feel bad..." And Muri gave a sad look. "W-why do you think I feel bad about him?"

"When Miley asked about Kweli, you said 'A buck rabbit'. The purpose of this introduction is not only for your child and Miley's child to meet, but to give you a sense of accepting that you are both mothers. Besides, isn't that buck your son?"

"I got confused...."

"Mom, I don't think they're used to this sort of thing." said Cream.  
"I know. Let's try this again, but we'll let Muri go first this time."

"I'm confused...." And Muri looked like she wanted to cry.

"I think you should do what Miley did with Lavender, only with Kweli." said Cream.

Muri shook her head. "This is embarrassing." And she returned her attention to Tails. "This is my son, Kweli." She said.

"Nice to meet you, Kweli." said Tails. "This is my daughter, Lavender."

Tails and Muri were a bit confused, but the two decided to hug as instructed. However, this proved challenging as they only touched by the bellies and their hands couldn't reach. Either way, both girls laughed at their folly and caught the end of a flash. "What was that?" asked Tails. Muri was just as confused, but said nothing.

"Sorry about that, I couldn't pass this moment for anything in the world." said Vanilla, holding a camera. "This picture is going to be priceless." Tikal then laughed aloud.  
"So, this was just...a humiliation?" Muri asked, getting sad again.

"Nope, something for the photo album. In addition to being a pregnancy exercise for the two of you." said Vanilla with a smile.

Muri lets go of Tails and backs away, before lowering her top again.

Tails lowers her top as well. "That was an odd exercise and a little embarrassing at the same time." said Tails.

"It was just a humiliation..." And Muri lowered her head.

"This wasn't meant to humiliate you girls." said Vanilla. "Besides, I think it's nice that Kweli met his first friend... even before birth. I'll make sure to give you a copy of this picture for Kweli's baby photo album. It's a perfect start to it, don't you agree?"

"Okay." Muri said, lifting her head. "I better look nice though. Photos can be so odd sometimes." And she smiled. "Can I go back to the leftovers now, please?"

"Go ahead and eat." and Vanilla giggled. So Muri walked off to head back and eat.  
"That was interesting to say the least..." Tikal said.

"Quite." said Cream.

"So, what's this treat already?" Amy asked. "Where exactly are you planning to go?"

"Like I said, you'll have to come along for the ride." answered Vanilla.

"When do you plan to go out then?" Amy asked.

"In a few."

A few minutes later, Muri returned. "That feels a bit better." She said.

"And what about you, Miley? How do you feel?" asked Vanilla.  
"Better, after that embarrassing moment." Tails answered.

"Is Kirika okay?" Muri asked.

"I will go and check on her." Vanilla answered. "You girls relax and think about your class later on today." and Vanilla went into the back.

"I have a bad feeling about this next class..." Muri said under her breath.

"I don't wanna have to deal with Shena either." said Tails.  
"I'll bring along my Omochaos encase there are any problems from her." said Cream.

"Oh, stop fretting girls. You'll cause yourselves unnecessary stress." Tikal told them, in a near scolding tone.  
"Yeah...you're right." Muri replied.

"Yes, and neither of you need that." said Cream, but her mind added other things. _And hopefully I won't have to use my Omochaos on Shena... But I will if I have to._

Muri's ears twitches slightly. "Is someone crying?" She asked.

"Not anyone here." answered Cream.

"Odd..." Muri said. "Never mind, it must be my imagination."

"Or you can hear the ants under our feet." said Tails, and then placed her hand to her ear. "...Wow, there's gonna be a wedding next week, bring lots of sweet rocks." Cream shook her head and giggled.

Muri tilts her head. "I don't get it..." She said.

"Don't get what?" asked Cream.

"Never mind."

"I have The Ant Bully on DVD, so I'll have to watch it with you sometime."

"It's a film?"

"Yup, and it's an odd one too."

"I see." Muri replied.

"May I watch too?" Tikal asked.  
"I need to find work..." Amy said, more to herself than anyone else though.

"I don't see why not." answered Cream.  
Vanilla returns to the girls. "Well, Kirika's tired and she said that she'll eat later." she told the other girls. "I'll make sure and place her plate in the microwave."

"But she's okay, right?" Muri asked.

"Yes, she's fine. Your aunt had a rough night and is glad to know you are safe."

"That's good..." and Muri sighed in relief.  
"What's going on?" Amy asked.

"Muri and her aunt are here with us right now." Vanilla explained. "There was a business proposal that took a while to successfully go through, but it went well in the end."

"Business proposal?" Muri question.

"Probably so. I didn't get too much info from her when we met up."

"Oh."

"So now what?" asked Tails.  
"Now we all get ready for the day. Miley, Muri, you two come to my room for a quick chat. We'll let the other girls get freshen up here in the living room."

"Okay." Muri replied, before obeying obediently. With that said, Tails and Muri follow Vanilla to her room.

"Well, how did you enjoy your classes so far?" asked Vanilla.  
"I guess they were interesting." Tails answered.

"You mean...the Lamaze?" Muri questioned.

"Yup." Vanilla answered.

"Scary..."

"How are they scary?"

"They have Shena in them, enough said."

"I can relate to that." said Tails.

"That and I don't really think Kirika has accepted I'm pregnant as well as she lets on."

"I think she's handled your being pregnant pretty well." said Vanilla. "I mean, she did get you in these classes." Muri didn't reply.

"First things first, it's time for an empty out."  
"Empty... out?"  
"That's right. Let's get you empty before you two get changed."

"I am top heavy, I guess..." Muri replied, before using both her hands to gently prod her chest. "I'm game."

"No, I think you'll be fine. Miley on the other hand will need to empty out."

"But Muri is present." Tails said with a sweat drop.  
"Compare bras then, but you still have to empty out."

"I'd rather not, I think I paralysed Cream the last time I showed my chest..." Muri replied. "I'll turn around."

"No need." said Vanilla as she handed Tails the breast pump. "You should watch for practice anyway, Muri." Muri again didn't reply.

Tails exposed her top and went to work on adjusting everything. "Well, welcome to another episode of Milking the Fox." she joked. "Pay attention Muri, you'll be taking a quiz later."

"A quiz..?" Muri questioned.

"Yup, a quiz."

"..." Muri simply watched and waited, without saying a word. She simply watched as Tails pumped herself and made a mental note to what Tails did. "So, what else was to discuss?" She asked.

"Just wondering, how are we going to deal with things in class today?" asked Tails.

"You mean with Shena?" Muri asked.

"I mean in general." Muri shrugged.

"I guess we'll have to see."

"Yeah..."

Tails took a look at things. "Well, I guess there was more in me than normal. I better switch."

"I have a bad feeling about today..." Muri looked sad.

"And those bad feelings need to go away if you truly want things to work in your favour." and Tails continued to milk herself.

"I'll shake them off and try to be happier." And Muri put on a smile, though it was clear she was still worrying about things.

Tails switched breasts. "Geez, I'm gonna need a third one..."

"Wow, you contain a lot...." Muri said. "At least your baby won't go hungry ever."

"Well, let's just say Lavender isn't the only one that will drink this."

"Oh?"

"Let's just say everyone likes my milk."

"That Marine girl especially..."

"Yeah, she wants to inject me with chocolate syrup."

Muri sweat dropped, and her discomfort was clear. "That'd be painful..." She said. "I wonder if it'd work."

"Don't remind me."

"I'll assume she thinks your milk has no flavour?" Muri questioned.

"Speaking of which, time to switch."

"Again?"

"I found out that I was tricked in the early part of my pregnancy."

"Huh? In what sense?" Muri tilted her head in her confusion.

"Early on, we had a major party. I ate pretty well for Lavender and myself. However, that proved to be the problem. Everything I ate caused my lactating to increase."

"Wow....I've never had that problem." Muri rubbed her belly. "Are you finished yet?" She asked.

"I take it you want to drink some too?"

"I never said that."

After Tails finished draining her chest, she and Muri put on the outfits that Vanilla left for them.

"Ready to go?" Muri asked, having gotten changed.

"They've been waiting long enough." Tails answered. "Let's go."

So, Muri follows Tails out of the room to find the other girls.

"What was the hold up?" Tikal asked.

"Thanks for waiting, Tikal." said Tails as she rolled her eyes. "Next time, I'll leave the milk in me." and she walked over to the fridge. "Anyway, what's your hurry?"

"I never meant it like that....sheesh..." Tikal sighed.

"I'll get you back when it's your turn to have kids."

"I think I'll just leave now. I'm sorry that I seem to have offended you." And Tikal took her leave.

"There she goes." said Tails.  
"Tikal, relax." said Cream.

"What was that all about?" Muri asked.

"I think Tikal was just impatient." Cream said.

"I'm curious as to why you took so much offence..." Muri looked at Tails.

"It was sarcasm." Tails said.

"Oh..." Muri said. "Well, she seems to think she offended you."

"Maybe it sounded that way to Tikal because of a mood swing." guessed Cream.

"Let's not worry about it." Muri said. "I'm sure she'll return and apologize sometime..."

"Anyway, what's the plan?" Amy asked.

"Ask Vanilla." Tails answered. So everyone then eyes Vanilla, waiting anxiously for her reply.

"Well, I guess we better go, right?" Vanilla questioned with a smile and sweat drop.

"Is Kirika coming? When's the Lamaze, she's gonna come for that, right?" Muri asked.

"Kirika just needs to rest." Vanilla answered Muri. "She should be better later. But for now, let's go."

"Okay." Muri replied.

Vanilla then moves the girls from the house and leads them to the elevator, and soon after, they head off for town. Once in town, the girls did a little bit of shopping, Vanilla also had to pick up a few things from one of the local supermarkets, which she put on house delivery. The girls later stopped to sit down for a meal at a nice restaurant, and due to the weather being so nice; they ate outside under a shade, but still in the sunlight.  
"This is nice." Muri said.  
"Yeah, so, what's this treat you were talking about, Vanilla?" Amy asked.

"This is just an easy day. I plan on making another meal." Vanilla answered.

"Ah, I see. Well, your meals are always the best." Amy said.  
"Isn't that Seifa?" Muri asked, pointed to a red hedgehog, who was leaving a medical building.

"Who is Seifa?" asked Cream.

"Shena's bitch." Muri said. "He likes to think he wears the trousers in the relationship, but everyone knows she runs the show."

"So he's really whipped?" asked Cream.  
It was at this moment when Vanilla's nose caught a familiar and unpleasant odour. "Girls, it's obvious this Shena has issues." she said. "Remember, this is the woman who watches horror movies to ease her pregnancy woes."

"Isn't nice to gossip behind peoples backs." Seifa had somehow managed to appear, undetected.

"It isn't nice to have your wife hassling my girls outside of class." Vanilla commented.

"She's not my wife, not yet anyway." Seifa replied. "I heard about that incident, I apologise on her behalf, but I wouldn't talk about her the way you did if I were you. She knows a few people who don't mind getting their hands dirty." Seifa looked at Muri, who was clearly hoping he'd leave her alone and leave. "And you don't need to worry about me forcing you to return either, I have my own kid to worry about right now."

"So lemme get this straight." Cream said. "You got Shena knocked up and you two aren't even married, but she wants to get on Miley for keeping me from being raped and called it foolish?" questioned Cream.

"We're engaged, but that's beside the point. I have no idea what Shena said to you girls, but considering neither Muri or Miley showed up with the father of their kids, she considers you foolish. I on the other hand don't care, it's not my business what you people do when I have more concerning issues of my own."

"A word of advice... for you, 'Spike'. Let your pair swing and check your fiancé. The last thing you want is for her and her 'dirty hands' causing problems. No pregnant mother should ever have to deal with or cause trouble." with these words, Vanilla sipped her drink as she addressed Seifa.

"Uh huh. Well, you'll be at peace to know we shall not be in the Lamaze today, how fortunate for you." And Seifa began to leave.

Vanilla sipped her drink. _Having friends in dirty places is fine and dandy. But I plan on making sure these girls have safe and healthy babies._ she thought.  
Cream's nose began to react as well. "How are you holding up, Muri?" she asked.

"Huh? I'm okay, why do you ask?" Muri asked. "I'm a little jumpy...Seifa and Shena scare me."

"Cream, you're coming along to the girls' Lamaze class today." Vanilla said.  
"Um, sure. I guess it couldn't hurt to learn about child development." Cream replied, somewhat confused.  
"Um, what is going on?" asked Tails.  
"Nothing, Seifa and I have common ground." Vanilla answered. "He's a good man, but lacks a bit of sound judgement. Your father was like that for a while, Cream." Muri let out a final relaxed sigh, as the weight of Seifa's presence lifted.

"So, where to next?" asked Cream.

"I hear some new shops opened down the way, we could always go there. I haven't checked them myself, but apparently there's a lot of 'work wanted' posters I could check out, if you don't mind, that is." Amy replied.

"Job hunting, this isn't like you, Amy." said Cream.

"Well, I haven't got a choice, do I?"

"Well, I guess you don't like being a 'go for' anymore." said Vanilla.

"I wasn't much of one before. You launched me into the forest for a few days, that didn't benefit me at all..." Amy replied.

"Let's get going." said Cream. So, the girls finish up, and then head off in the direction of which Amy was talking about.

Upon arrival, it was true, some shops they knew had shut down or moved and new shops were replacing them, some still in construction, but the new shops were a nice sight. The jewellery store was one that would have made Rouge gleam brightly, though she wasn't here and Cream picked up a new colourful dress from a new shop elsewhere.

The girls continued walking on.  
"Awww, Scarlet's shut down..." Amy wasn't happy, having seen an old shop she knew, the sign being removed.

"I wouldn't know of it, so I don't really care." said Tails.

"Scarlet's was one of my favourite shops, but oh well." Amy said.  
"What's that place?" Muri asked, pointed to a large shop, it was coloured in a cyan, with what appeared to be waves painted around it.

"Blue Waves Health and Beauty?" Amy asked.

"Is this even open?" asked Cream.

"Yes, we're open." Said a voice from nearby, the girls turn to see Aqua from the Lamaze sat on a chair outside. "Well, if it isn't the two youngest in the Lamaze, how are you doing?" She asked with a smile.

"Ran into Seifa." Tails answered.

"Ah, I believe his hussy is under the weather." Aqua smiled. "I hope they haven't been giving you trouble."

"Just a ruined ice cream social." said Vanilla. "And I take it that you run this place?"

"I do." Aqua replied. "Though, I'm going to have to shut down soon for a little while. Meanwhile, the salon is free to anyone pregnant and a few friends of choosing. So, you're all free to enjoy the whole shop, if you so want to."

"Well, let's go and enjoy the new diggs." said Tails.  
"This should be fun." said Cream.  
"Go on inside girls, I wanna talk to the manager on my own." said Vanilla. "I'll be in momentarily."

"Okay." Muri replied. So the girls head on inside, Aqua meanwhile looks at Vanilla.

"How can I help you?" She asked.

"You can give me answers." Vanilla began. "What's the deal with you and Shena?"

"We've been at each other's throats since the fight between Hiei and someone named Nazaruda." Aqua replied. "Shena was not so happy with her leaders defeat and challenged me, upon which I showed her just what I can do, and she wasn't happy about losing."

"So what's her deal with Kirika and Muri?"

"Please, follow me." Aqua said, standing up.

_This should be interesting._ thought Vanilla.

The two enter the shop and Aqua leads Vanilla beyond the staff area and then to her personal office, where she locks the door behind her.  
"You're not going to like what I am about to tell you." Aqua said, looking at Vanilla.

"Trust me, this situation is already tight." said Vanilla. "So I might as well get up to speed."

"Nazaruda runs a group called Rexchus, they are dedicated to working on creating forces in which can match the powers of G.U.N and further, ideals being conquest, no one can do anything against them and G.U.N does not buy the information, nor can they do anything without proof and they're good at covering their tracks. Kirika joined Rexchus after being seduced by Nazaruda and was used as a 'test tube' to create one of two experiment children, which was dubbed 'Project Kirika'." Aqua explained.

"G.U.N truly is useless." said Vanilla. "What else?"

"Muri is one of the experimental children." Aqua said. "Her mother was a rabbit named Aki, who joined Rexchus for the sake of mankind, being fooled to the true purpose, and later framed and frozen in a pod in one of G.U.N's main headquarters. Have you seen the jewel imbedded in Muri's forehead?"

"Keep going..."

"The purpose was to create children with enough power to harness Chaos Energy, so, Muri was imbedded with Chaos Energy whilst in the womb and was born with a jewel in her forehead, no one knows how or why it's there, but it cannot be removed." Aqua continued. "There was another child, Kirika's child, called Irum, this one was different, the chaos energy was imbedded before fertilisation and Irum was born as a very lethal girl, growing up with no sense of logic and having to be locked away for the safety of everyone else. Irum was the death of the Rexchus former leader and one other member, before Nazaruda took charge." Aqua took a breath. "I have no idea about the origins of Muri's baby. However, I do know that Tia has a big crush on Nazaruda and hates the fact he chose Aki and Kirika over her, and Shena is like Tia's big sister, so there's the answer to your question."

"So this explains everything." Vanilla said with a contented look on her face.

"I must ask a favour of you." Aqua said to Vanilla.

"Before you do that, I want to simply say that I was wrong. My assumption wasn't correct, but semi-correct."

"How so?"

"Muri's child... and why she seems scared of Nazaruda."

"What was your assumption?"

"Rape."

"He does that."

"So you were..."

"He tried." Aqua said. "This child I can guarantee is Hiei's though. But raping Muri? I wouldn't put it past him."

"That was my guess, but it apparently is another form of that. Either way, I now know what's going on and I think you for filling me in. Also, I see that you will be needing a bit of help at your commerce here. I would like you to hire my go for."

"That depends, I'm going to need a co-manager and none of my current girls are skilled enough for that." Aqua said.

"Amy has good fashion sense, just test her."

"That I shall. And about my favour." Aqua said. "I want you to get custody of Muri if you can, I am willing to get any and all details that are needed."

"I can manage that..."

"Good. I'll have Hiei talk to the right people, we should be able to get more than enough evidence needed for your claim to custody. As thanks, I'll give your go for a run at the job and any other favour you wish." Aqua said.

"I take it Aki was close with you."

"Aki was the older sister of a friend of mine, and knowing her daughter is suffering is not in my best interest."

"Well, we better go check on the girls." and Vanilla stood up. "By the way, there is something I will need from you that'll help this process go much more smoothly."

"Ask away."

Vanilla reached into her purse and pulled out two breast pumps. "I'll need a bit of your breast milk. Hook one from each side if you don't mind, it'll be something that I will use later for the girls."

"An explanation, please?"

"Vaccine purposes."

"In detail, if you don't mind."

"I observed a chat between Miley and Muri. Muri said that a way she managed to calm Irum down was with her breast milk. If I'm going to acquire Muri, I'll need to do the same for Irum as well at some point."

"You wish to acquire Irum?" Aqua questioned. "As good as the intention, from what I've heard, that'd be suicide."

"Does this mean you're a lactophobe?"

"I don't lactate often." Aqua replied. "I was fortunate that way. However..." And Aqua walked over to a box in the corner, which when opened was a freezer content. "I'm often here in the office, so i keep a lot of frozen meals for myself, I do have a few cups which I had to lactate, are they good enough?" And Aqua shows the frozen milk to Vanilla.

"Try pumping yourself now, I'm gullible."

"You're insistent..." Aqua said, putting the milk back. She walks over and takes the pump. "Unfortunately, I won't do this in your pressence, so if you'd care to step outside?"

"Who am I to tell, it's not like what happens here is leaving this office?"

"Would you prefer I say no?" Aqua asked. "If I want to do it in private, who are you to deny me that?"

"I said it like this as a way to test your word on how you are 'willing to get any and all details that are needed.' But I guess I don't blame you for the reaction. I'll make sure the other details aren't so intruding as this one." and Vanilla left Aqua to her privacy.

"Wierd woman..." Aqua uttered to herself.

After 3 minutes, Aqua stepped out of her office and returned the pumps to Vanilla. "So, let me get this straight, the purpose of this was to perversely have me drain my bust to prove that I'd get any and all details needed? And because I find it uncomfortable to be watched by anyone as I show off parts of myself that I would rather not hinders that word?"

"This must be your first pregnancy." said Vanilla. "Besides, I thought you would be happy to know that part of you will be a vaccine."

"That doesn't change the fact that when in company, my clothes stay on my body without exception. I don't have to strip down to be happy about something." Aqua was slightly unnerved, obviously. "I also shouldn't have to feel I need to do things your way to get them done. You have the milk, which is surprising actually, and I kept to my word, even if it wasn't the way you wanted." She sighed a little. "What else will we need for this?"

"What are you two talking about over there?" asked Cream.  
"Safe positions of sleeping for pregnant women." Vanilla answered her daughter. "We're exchanging secrets."  
"Well, don't go all lesbo on me, Mom."

"An interesting daughter you have..." Aqua said. "Where were we?"

Vanilla went to Aqua's ear. "So much for not leaving the office." she whispered. "I will call you later and explain things."

"You have my number?" Aqua questioned.

"It **is** in the window of the shop."

"How forgetful of me." Aqua said. "One more thing, I don't know if it is something in the street, but when you all walked up, an odd smell hit my nose, I wonder if you noticed it at all."

"It was. But that isn't body odour. Anyway, you have someone to meet."

"I am aware it was not body odour, it wasn't something I've smelt before, but at least it's to your attention." Aqua said. "Anyway, let's go before anyone else becomes suspicious." And Aqua heads back into the main room.

With this said, Vanilla lives up to her word. "Amy, Aqua would like you to do her hair." she said. "She's looking for the 'Sexy, yet maternal' look. You don't mind working on hair right now, do you?"

"Huh?" Amy was confused.

"Aqua wants you to give her hair a 'Sexy, yet maternal' makeover."

"But I..." Amy was still confused.  
"You can style hair, can't you?" Aqua asked.  
"I used to practice styling, and hairdressing has always been a young dream of mine."  
"Well then, put it into practice." And Aqua goes and sits in one of the dressing chairs and waits. "You don't have to worry about it."  
"What's this all about?" Amy asked, looking at Vanilla.

"If you don't want to accept the challenge, back down in shame." said Vanilla. And Amy fumed before taking up the tools. She relaxed and carefully started work.  
"What's that about?" Muri asked, looking at Cream.

"Don't look at me." Cream answered. "I think Mom and Aqua had something sexual going on, but I'm not sure."

"You're mom is into that sort of thing?" Muri was confused. "How confusing."

"I guess she's lonely."

"Perhaps you should find her a man?"

"I should...."

"Please, ladies, enjoy the store, there's plenty of things for you to do, perhaps the mothers to be should go to the maternity side of things, a few of my girls would be happy to give you a pregnancy massage, they're well trained. They also give regular massages for the others." Aqua said, as Amy worked.

"That sounds like fun." said Tails. "Maybe I should do that after my hairdo."

"Of course, you still have a little while till the Lamaze, so enjoy yourselves."

"I think I will get more volume in my ears." said Vanilla. "But I need to make a call first. Be right back." and Vanilla made her way outside.

"So, shall we introduce ourselves? I don't know some of you, after all." Aqua said, referring to all the girls.  
"My name is Amy Rose." Amy said still doing the hair.  
"You've had quite the practice with hair; you're not doing too bad."  
"R..really?"  
"Absolutely, keep it up."

"I'm Muri." Muri said.  
"And the rest of you?" Aqua asked.

"I'm Cream." Cream introduced herself. "I would bow, but I'm having a few head makeovers right now."

"Not a problem. So Cream, tell me a little about yourself."

"Well, you already met my mom and I'll be coming to the Lamaze class today. I guess you can say I'm a self-reliant, always there for my friends and I read Shot-a-con."

"Shot-a-con? Hiei loves that magazine..."

"Apparently, so does a lot of people. I wanna grab some more hardware, but I need my own credit card."

"Anything you want in particular, ask me, I don't mind gift giving." Aqua said, Amy was about finished on her hair.

"So exactly how far along are you?"

"6 and a half weeks."

"Wow, you're farther than Miley is. How many, might I ask?"

"Twins." Aqua replied.

_Well, I guess I should be thankful for just one._ thought Tails.  
"Twins are nice. It's always good to have one of each in certain instances." Cream said happily.

"How so?" Aqua asked.

"They say it's good luck."

"Hm, I haven't heard that one, interesting." Aqua said. And Amy finished. "Hm, not bad, not bad." She said.  
"It's okay?" Amy questioned.  
"It's not really my thing, but its lovely work."

Vanilla was busy making phone calls. Things were doing well on her behalf. _I guess a lot will go as planned._ she thought. Soon, she got a text message and looked at it. _I hope this is from Tikal. _Unfortunately, it wasn't. The text was from Gmerl and it was in code. After fully reading the code, she replied back to the gizoid and hit 'send', and after a few seconds, saw the positive sent message screen. _Looks like everything I've learned is coming to the fan blades._ Vanilla thought and gave a sigh. _At least a few of my fights are finished..._ With this said, she returned to the girls and prepared to get her ears done.

After a short time, the girls had massages, makeovers and some had a spar. Some had facials and all sorts of other beauty treatments.  
"So girls, how do you like your free treatments?" Aqua asked them, smiling brightly.

"Not bad, I feel like a hunid racks." Cream answered.  
"My ears haven't had this much volume since I was in college." Vanilla answered. "Aqua, your team is something else."

"Why thank you, which leads me to the result of your challenge, Amy. I need a co-manager, someone to run the show whilst I am not around, the pay is decent and the girls are really fun, none of them are looking for the position, nor have the skills needed to run team leader. Up for it?" Aqua asked.

Amy was shocked. "Wait, this was for a...." she couldn't believe her ears.  
"Well, what do you say?" asked Vanilla.  
"I.... I.... I....." Amy truly was at a loss for words.

"It's not an offer you'll get very often, I shan't pay you at first, because I need to test your ability further, but if you can do a few unpaid days of work and do them well, I'll happily grant you the full position for my maternity leave. You'll get full access to the whole shop, you'll get full pay and you're own office, next to mine to which you can do as you please with." Aqua explained. "So, what do you say?"

"_A job... as a stylist...._ I guess I'll answer opportunity. Though I'm still baffled on the sudden knocking on my door. But who cares, I'll answer."

"Does that mean you say yes?" Aqua questioned, still smiling.

"When did you want me starting?"

"We shall be leaving for a Lamaze class soon, so you can keep my shop open for the day and trust your ability to take over from the dot, or you can wait until later where I can watch your progress, naturally, I'll have to have a friend come over to make sure things go smoothly if you choose to work whilst I am out, it's up to you." Aqua replied.

"Well, it wouldn't be right to take control of the shop right away. I'll wait until you come back from class." Amy answered.

"As you wish." Aqua said. "That means that the current sessions going on are the last ones for a while, can someone flip the sign on the door please?"

"I guess I'll do it." said Cream as she changed the sign to closed.

"Thank you. Okay girls, finish up as soon as you can, keep the work as best you can though and don't rush for the sake of rushing." Aqua called around to her staff, after some confirmations, Aqua waited patiently for them to finish up on the other customers; meanwhile, she'd gathered the other girls around a large table and provided drinks and Chinese food.  
"So, what are your plans for the rest of the day, save for Lamaze?" Aqua asked, before taking up chopsticks and a rice bowl. "You don't mind some Chinese, do you?"

"We'll see." Vanilla answered. "Also, I will help out Muri this time while Cream will help Miley."

"I guess...Kirika isn't coming then..." And Muri looked sad.

"I love Chinese." And Amy took up a bowl, but took a spoon instead of chopsticks.

"Your aunt is currently doing diplomatic ventures." Vanilla said. "She'll join us as soon as possible."

"Besides, my mom will help you out, so you don't have anything to worry about." added Cream.  
"Speaking of which, shouldn't you be getting in touch with Hiei, Aqua?" asked Tails.

"He knows the time." Aqua replied. "Besides, he's a lot more busy than I am, we'll meet him either on the way or when we get there."

"Thank you, Vanilla." Muri said, she then took up a bowl and chopsticks for her food.

"I might as well eat too." said Cream as she took the sticks and grub.

"Which food might this be?" asked Tails.

"Beijing Cuisine." Aqua replied. "You have the rice with a sweet and sour sauce, the sauce is optional of course and there is some pork available as well." Aqua said. "Oh, and some duck."

"Duck huh, so which duck dish would you say this is?"

"Peking Duck." Aqua replied. "Usually served with pancakes, but I didn't have the pancakes, so it's without."

"No, this isn't Peking Duck, but a good imitation." and Cream continued to eat. "Doesn't taste as rich."

"Well, that's a shame." Aqua replied. "Not that it matters so long as you like it."

So, after the food was eaten, though not all of it. The girls were done with their customers and Aqua closed up shop and they all headed off into town.

"So, we have Lamaze in 30 minutes, so, what will everyone do?" Aqua asked.

"I'm gonna head over to Rouge's." Amy answered. "I'll catch you later."

"I guess the four of us are gonna stick together." Tails answered.

"Well, shall we head over to class, the walk from here should be about 20 minutes." Aqua suggested.

"I guess everyone should hit the can before we go then." suggests Vanilla.

"That's a good idea, but I'll wait till we get there." Aqua said.

"I will go now." said Vanilla.

"Not afraid of public restrooms, are you?" A voice asked from behind Aqua, who turned around.  
"You shouldn't sneak up on me like that, Hiei."  
"Enjoying your company?" Hiei asked.  
"They're nice people." Aqua smiled.  
"I'm sure..."

"I guess the gang's all here." said Tails.

"Well, let's go then." Aqua smiled. So the group headed off in the direction of restrooms.

So the girls arrived at the restroom and Tails, Cream, Muri and Vanilla head inside.  
"We'll wait here." Aqua said. The girls do their business, naturally Muri and Tails needed help, where Cream helped Tails and Vanilla helped Muri and they left the toilets, met up with Aqua and Hiei and walked on to the classes.

As expected it took 20 minutes to get there, leaving only a few minutes before the class was set to begin, and other mothers were arriving.

"Well, looks like we made it." said Tails.

"Yeah..." Muri sighed.  
"It's not so bad." Aqua said. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to find the bathroom." And Aqua leaves, Hiei remaining.

"I see you've made it here as well, Vanilla." a voice said.  
"Of course. And it's good to see you around... er, hear you around." Vanilla said.

"Sorry." It was at this moment, the voice revealed itself next to Tails. "Looks like you're doing well also."  
"I didn't think you'd be here, Espio." said Cream.  
"It's a gig." Espio said. "Now if you'll excuse me..." and the chameleon went clear again.

"He made me jump..." Muri said, patting her chest. "Does he always do that?"

"Espio's trained in stealthily arts and ninjitsu." Vanilla cleared up. "It's routine for him."

"I see...reminds me of someone I used to know..."

"A friend of yours?" asked Tails.

"Kinda, we weren't considered friends, but I knew her. She was also a chameleon, and she was in with the 'ninja' ways. Her name was Maggie."

"Interesting." said Cream.

"Maybe you should find her, and hook them up." Aqua said with a giggle.  
"Done already?" Hiei asked.  
"I didn't need the bathroom that badly."

"So now what do we do?" asked Cream.

"We go in and wait." Said Aqua.

So, the girls went inside, the bearcats where already here it seemed.  
"Good day." Muri said to them, bowing as best she can, but not for long.

"Wow, look at you." said Vanessa. "And I see you're doing well."

"I am, thank you." And Muri blushed a bit.  
"How are you?" Aqua asked.

"Doing fine... but I am eating a few weird things. Cravings are a mother."

"Tell me about it." And Aqua took her seat, Muri took one where she did last time and the rest slowly came in and took their seats.

It was at this point where Charmy flew in the door and had his stuff ready. "Okay everyone, please take a few minutes to get comfortable and we'll get started momentarily." he said to the class.

"Okay, where is..." Muri was confused.

"This is a twist." said Cream.

"I'm rather uncomfortable about this." Aqua said.

Charmy then finished unpacking everything and held a clipboard. "Okay everyone, allow me to explain." he began.

"My name is Charmy, I'm Saffron's king bee. She's under the weather at the moment, so it's my job, like the caring and compassionate hubby that I am, to try and teach the class that she set up for everyone today. I can see just about all of our couples are here..." then Charmy looks at Muri and notices Cream. "Um, I take it we're down one."

"You mean Shena?" Muri asked.

"No, Seifa called and said they had to miss this session." Charmy cleared up. "I take it you're... Muri, right?"

"Um...yes..." and Muri blushed.

"Um... and you're Kirika?"  
"No, I'm Cream." Cream answered. "Sorry, I should be switching partners. Mom?"  
"Of course, honey." said Vanilla.  
"Uh, where is Kirika?" asked Charmy.  
"Kirika is currently making runs, so I'll be filling in for her."  
"And you must be Vanilla."  
"Yes, that's me. I trust my daughter's filling in won't be a problem..."  
"Well, I don't think so, since she's helping Miley out. But she looks so young."  
"Yes, and I also found out that she's pregnant."

The echidna from before walks in, but without her partner it would seem.  
"I'm not late, am I?" She asked.

"Um... no." Charmy answered. "And you are?"

"Mikuru, I was here last week..."

"Sorry. I'm Charmy, Saffron's out and I'm taking over this session. And your partner is..."

"He won't be coming, so I'm without one this time, is that a problem?"

"Oh boy... this may be troublesome, but I guess things happen. Let me help you get comfortable."

"Sure, but there's no need." And Mikuru makes her way inside, and is assisted to a seat.

Charmy sure had his plate full. Not only was he teaching the class about things, he also had taken the kindness of his goldenhive heart to play a surrogate partner for Mikuru. The first lesson of the day was learning how to bathe their babies, so Charmy was checking the temperature of the bath water. "Okay everyone, I will now check the temperatures of the baths you have made for the baby dolls." Charmy said, then checks Mikuru's. "Not a bad temperature, but be a bit warmer."

"Oh, is that so?" Mikuru questioned. "I'll do better next time."

Charmy went over to the rabbit and Fox. "And let's see how you two did." and Charmy checked the water. "Whoa, that's cold."  
"Hey, it's of lukewarm temperature." Cream complained.  
"Really, dip your finger in it, Miley."

Tails dipped her finger in the water. "It doesn't feel cold...but...isn't warm either...I don't know." She said. "Well, what is a good temperature?" Miley asked Charmy.

Charmy dipped a thermometer into Tails and Cream's bathtub. After the reading came out, Charmy handed them a thermometer with the proper temperature. "See the difference?" he asked.

"Difference in comparison to what?" Tails asked.

"We missed it by a few degrees." Cream said.  
"It happens." Charmy answered. "Just make sure that your actual children don't feel cold in the tub."

It was at this point the group turned their heads to a sharp squeak, emitted from our young pregnant doe, who looked quite surprised and embarrassed.

"I guess you want the teacher to check our bath next." said Vanilla.

"Um...y-yeah...maybe..." Muri said lowing her head a bit. "Sorry..."

"Is something the matter?"

"N-no...the...water just surprised me a bit. I'm fine." Muri replied.

"Right." and Vanilla took this to heart.  
"Well, let me see." said Charmy.

As Charmy checked the water, a familiar whiff came across Cream's nose. _Hmm..._ she thought and smelled Tails. _Oh, it's just Lavender... so strong.  
_Vanilla caught the same whiff, but said nothing. "Well, this is a degree hotter than the actual temperature, but otherwise fine." said Charmy. "Not bad for your first time, Muri."

"Oh...tha-thank you." And Muri blushed deeply.

"Muri, are you sure that you're fine?" asked Vanilla.

"I'm fine..." Muri said as she began to stand up, but ended up keeling over gripping the side of the bath and her belly. "Oww..." She cried out.

"What happened over there?" Aqua asked, concerned.  
"Nothing...it was just my back twinged, causing my stomach to tighten..." Muri replied as she rested back down, but breathed heavily.

It was at this moment that Vanilla assisted Muri. "Have a seat." she said and helped Muri sit.  
"I hope she's okay." said Cream.  
"Her back must be killing her due to her pregnancy." added Tails.  
"Perhaps..."

Muri at this point tried to relax, and took a deep swallow before breathing normally for a little while.  
"Is everything okay?" Aqua asked, walking over.

"She said it was her back." Charmy answered.  
"I'm sure she'll tell us if anything is wrong, Charmy." Vanilla said. "Right, Muri?"

"Y-yeah...." Muri replied, trying to stay relaxed.  
"Anyway, you should check our bathwater next." Aqua said to Charmy.

"Right." said Charmy and followed Aqua to the bath she and Hiei prepared.  
"Miley, how is your back?" asked Cream.  
"I'm good, but I'm wondering if Muri's bra had to deal with things being hard on her." Tails answered.  
"Muri, give me your wrist, I wanna check your pulse." said Vanilla. Muri does as she's told and lifts her arm for Vanilla.

As Vanilla check Muri's pulse, Charmy deals with Aqua's bath. "Like Goldilocks said about Baby Bear's bed, 'It feels just right.' Very good, Aqua." he said.

"Thank you." Aqua smiled.

_I wonder why mom would check Muri's pulse if her back hurts..._ thought Cream.  
"Maybe I should try learning from Aqua's example." said Tails.

"I feel better..." Muri said. She gave her belly a rub and had finally completely calmed down.

"Your pulse is a bit racy, Muri." Vanilla said.

"It was a sho....haaaa!" And Muri keeled over again, gripping her stomach tightly.

"Just as I thought, you're in labour."  
Everyone turned to Muri and Vanilla. "She's what?!" Charmy was about to freak out.  
The other couples started to panic. "Okay people, this isn't a drill." said Vanilla. "Charmy, remain calm and call 911. Cream, I need you to come and help me with Muri. Miley, use your bathwater and a face towel and create a cold compress. Hiei, I'll need you to turn clear the table with the lesson stuff off and turn it around. Everyone else, get a hold of yourselves and take notes."

"I..I'm what?" Muri panicked. Hiei walked over to the table and makes quick work on clearing the stuff from it. Charmy grabbed the phone in panic and called the hospital.

"You're in labour." Vanilla told Muri as she and Cream helped the pregnant doe to her feet. This of course caused Muri to go through another screaming contraction.

"It huuurts..." Muri screamed.

"Breathe, Muri." Vanilla said. "You need to stay calm now more than ever. Just breathe..."

"I...I'm scared." Muri said, this being the moment the tears began to fall from her eyes.

"It's your first pregnancy, you're going to be scared. But just breathe and try to stay calm." Vanilla assured her.  
"Mom, shouldn't we be getting Muri to a hospital?" asked Cream.

Charmy had only just gotten through to the hospital at this point, but he was jittery and unclear when speaking, clearly in panic.

In the end, it was Hiei who took the phone off of him and calmly explained the situation.

_I guess this is why Muri had a bad feeling about things._ thought Tails. _Sally did say that women get highly anticipated, agitated and panic-struck during the first pregnancy before the moment of birth. I wish I could help more, but I guess these compresses will have to do._

"Make it go away, make the pain go awa..." And Muri had another painful contraction, her screeching sent a shudder through most of the others.

_My god that's loud._ thought Cream.  
"Breathe, Muri." said Vanilla calmly. "Hiei, could you fetch the table?"

Hiei hangs up the phone and walks over, effortlessly moving the table for Vanilla.

"Charmy, I'll take things over from here if you don't mind." said Vanilla as she and Cream prepped Muri on the table.  
"Sure... be my guest." said Charmy, still shaky in nerves and body.  
"Here are a few folded up blankets for Muri to lean against." said Vanessa.  
"Good. Miley, let's get a compress for Muri."  
"Right." said Tails as she rung out the compress that felt cold to the touch.

Vanilla took Muri's legs and flipped her dress up. "How are you feeling, Muri?" she asked. Muri didn't reply, but was still panicked and in pain.

"Here's a compress." said Tails.  
"Good, now wipe Muri's forehead." said Vanilla as she tends to Muri's legs. She pulled the pregnant doe's panties off and spread her legs open. "And that's why you aren't going to the hospital right now. But don't worry, I'm a well experienced midwife, so you two are going to be fine. Class, get ready. You're about to see the end result of why you are here." It was at this moment that Vanilla let everyone see what was going on. The reactions were mixed and even Tails got to see. "Wow, is that the head?" she asked.  
"Yes, this is the head." Vanilla answered. "Everyone look at the head of Muri's child."

Hearing this, Muri began to freak out. Hiei walked around the table and placed both of his hands on the sides of her head, where he closed his eyes and his hands began to glow, Muri relaxed dramatically.

Tails handed Cream the compresses and returned to her position, having a full view of Muri's soon to be born son. "As you can see, the head is out thirty percent of the way." Vanilla explained. "If we were to be driving, Muri would probably deliver in the back seat of a vehicle. But not today. Muri, I have to admit that you're a real hero to even the older mothers in the class. So tell me how do you feel?"

"I am scared..." Muri replied.

"Poor thing..." Mikuru said quietly.

"In all fairness, I think it's rather unfair that Muri is being used as a lesson here." Aqua said. "Perhaps we should concentrate on her well being, rather than our own learning, no?"

"I also timed her contractions. And judging by her rate and screams, Muri dilated quite quickly... Quicker than I did with Cream. Anyway, if we were to have left down the elevator and gotten her to a car, she'd be waddling and dangling a baby..."

Vanilla was cut off by Muri screaming out in pain. "Push with this contraction."  
"I'm too scared!" Muri cried out.  
"I know you're scared, but you have to trust me."  
"Ahhhh!"  
"Push, Muri."

"How terrifying..." Mikuru said.

"Hang in there, Muri. You'll be okay, there's no need to be scared." Vanessa said. Hiei's hands began to lose their glow and he gritted his teeth. Muri's screams only got worse, but she did as she was told and pushed as hard as she could, but it only lasted a couple of seconds before pain made her give in and return to screaming.

"Remember your breathing, Muri." Cream said calmly.

"Hiei, what are you doing?" Aqua questioned.  
"It's a power used to calm people in times of need, usually only on serious wounds, but the concept is the same here. It has its side effects, just do what you need to do and let me concentrate." Hiei said, before his hands began to glow brighter again, Muri was calming again and went back to her breathing.

Vanilla continued. "Not only is the head out, but the ears and the left shoulder." Vanilla told everyone. "Birth can be scary, but you must also try to remain as calm as possible and remember to breathe. Also, kudos for giving Muri her support."  
"No problem." Vanessa said.  
Vanilla worked it so both shoulders were out and Cream used another compress on Muri. "Okay everyone..." said Vanilla as she moved to the side, still holding Muri's son in her hand. "Take a look everyone."

Everyone's reaction was more awestruck than panic. "Wow, that's a lot of baby." said Tails. "You're doing great, Muri."  
"Yes she is. Don't you think so, Charmy?"  
"Uh huh." Charmy answered, his voice high pitch.  
Vanilla continued. "At this point, with the ears and shoulders out, it's only a matter of time and a few more contractions before Muri's child is completely born." and Vanilla returned in front of Muri. "I promised your aunt that I would take care of you in her absence, Muri. So don't ever think that I will hurt you or your child. But I want to tell you that you're very brave for giving birth in front of your entire class. The other mothers now have a newfound respect for you."

"I-It's not like I...had much choice...please make it stop." Muri cried.

"You're almost done, I promise. And everyone here in class is lending you the strength you need to bring your bunny into the world. You may be scared, but you don't have anything to fear. Do you understand?"

"Please make it stop..." Muri cried further. "I'll do anything, just make it stop."

"My mom won't let you down, Muri." Cream said. "Not when you need her, she'll see you through all of this."  
Tails placed a new compress on Muri's forehead. "You're almost there." she said, trying to encourage her friend. "And everyone's routing for you two. You can even take my hand if you need it."  
_That's it girls, give your friend the support she needs._ thought Vanilla.

So, Muri takes Tails hand and hits another contraction, in which she by nature pushes as hard as she can, she no longer cared about how much pain she was in, but making it stop, so she just pushed hard.

"That's it, keep going." Vanilla encouraged as she delivered the new buck.

Hiei let go of Muri's head and stepped away leaning against the wall.

_Look at that support, this young girl really is brave._ thought Charmy.

Muri screamed through her contraction and pushed along the way. Afterwards, she just stopped and began to breathe. After a bit of catching her breath, Muri pushed some more, squeezing Tails and Cream's hands as if she was crushing a can. and after eight seconds of this pushing, the sound of a crying baby filled the room.

"There you go, mom." said Vanilly happily. "And listen to this set of lungs, what a healthy baby boy you have." Muri simply relaxed and breathed heavily.  
"Wow, I can't beleive I just witnessed life. That was amazing...even if scary." Mikuru said.

"And to think, all of us will have to endure that." said Vanessa.  
"Not all of you." said Cream. "Echidnas lay eggs."  
"How about a bit of congratulations for Muri and... her son, right?" Charmy said.  
"Yes, the newborn is a boy." Vanilla answered. "And weighs pretty well too... Cream, the scale please."  
"Yes, Mom." Cream said as she let go of Muri and went to Vanilla's purse.

"He's so cute." Aqua said. "Well done, Muri, for being so brave, you can have free treatment at my store for life, this is amazing. Beleive it or not, I'm actually anxious to see my own children now." Aqua was getting all giddy and excitable.

"Don't rush your pregnancy." said Tails.  
"Yes." agreed Vanilla as she cleaned things up. "You still need another week before you can safely deliver your twins."

"It's not wrong to be excited." Aqua said. "How do you feel, little one."  
"Tired..." Muri replied weakly.

"You deserve every bit of rest." said Vanilla.  
"Here's the scale, Mom." said Cream.  
"Good, now hold onto it while I finish cleaning up here."  
"So, have you thought of a name for your son?" asked Charmy.

Muri breathed slowly looking at the roof. "I still like....Kweli..." She said. "I'm not good with names myself, and Kweli does sound nice."

"Kweli sounds like a good name." said Vanessa.  
"I like how it sounds too." said Charmy. "But, what does it mean?"

"Ask Vanilla, she was the one who said it first..." Muri said.

Vanilla giggled. "All you had to do was ask." she said.  
Sirens could be heard from out the window and paramedics were soon exiting an ambulance. "Well, here's the ambulance..." said Tails.  
Vanilla had Kweli in a towel. all four ends were wrapped up and fixed to the bottom of the scale and Vanilla was holding everything. "Eight pounds, that's a healthy baby, Muri." she said.  
"Hey, you're kinda dodging a bullet here." said Charmy.  
"My mistake." and Vanilla hands Muri her son after placing Kweli in her arm and undoing the scale from the towel. "It's Swahili. Kweli means 'truth' in Swahili."

"Truth?" Muri asked, she was helped into a sitting position as the paramedics walked in.  
"Doesn't she need to go through the 'afterbirth' yet?" Aqua questioned.

"Nope, that's already taken care of." Vanilla answered. "All part of the clean up process of mine. Though, most of the blood from Muri's pregnancy absorbed into her panties, I made sure to get the rest of the blood, leftover amniotic fluid and the placenta. We'll just wait for the blood to stop flowing, then we can cut the umbilical cord."

"My...baby...he's so cute..." Muri said, looking down on her son.

"That's right, you have an adorable young buck." said Vanilla.

Shortly after Muri got used to holding Kweli, the paramedics came in and helped Muri off the table and onto the stretcher. Vanilla still remained at Muri's side through the whole ordeal even when they got downstairs. "Cream, I'm going to the hospital with Muri." Vanilla said. "I'm sure you and Miley will be able to get home on your own."  
"Sure Mom, no problem." said Cream.  
"I'll make sure to accompany them." said Vector.  
"Good, that will be wonderful."

"Where did you come from?" Tails asked Vector.

"Espio and I have been here, didn't you notice him?" Vector adjusted his headphones

"We noticed Espio because he said hi, but since when...Never mind, I'm more interested as to why..." Tails sighed.

"Vanilla gave the CDA a call and requested our services. Naturally, Espio and I gladly took up the job."

"Explain on the way home." Tails said. "Congratulations, Muri, and Vanilla, look after her."  
"Okay, well, this was a most interesting lesson, I'll head home now." And Mikuru gave her congratulations and took her leave, eventually, everyone took their own leave and the ambulance left for the hospital.

"I think Charmy had more of a hard time dealing with Muri's delivery than Muri did." said Cream.

"Well, that'll be an interesting conversation for Saffron. 'Hi honey, I'm never doing your job again...wanna know why? Because one of the mother's dropped.'" Tails replied.

"Yeah, the next class will probably be cancelled because of this."

"Well, let's go back, and Vector, you can explain why Vanilla called." Tails said as they walked off.

"Well, when Vanilla called, she said that we would have to play lookout and act as hired help. She didn't say why, but said we'd be well paid for our services. And since the CDA is hurting on paper, we didn't ask questions. Besides, it was our policy after all."

"Looks like we're going to have a nice chat with Vanilla later, huh Cream?" Tails replied.

"Well, the Chaotix 'Never turn down work that pays.' Miley. It **is** their policy." Cream answered.

"Yes, that's true, but even so, Vanilla's not just that generous a woman that she'd hire them for absolutely no reason, so there was a purpose, one I'm interested to know."

"Something about a Shena, but she wasn't clear on the rest." Vector said.

"Now I definitely want to know..."

"Excuse me, do you mind if I have a chat with the rabbit." Said a voice from behind them. The three turn to see Hiei, Vector becomes a little protective of the girls.

"Is something troubling you, Hiei?" asked Cream.

"I want to talk to you alone, if you don't mind." He said, his tone was calm, yet serious.

"We have to get home." Cream said. "If need be, you can always call my mom."

"Have it your way, despite the fact this is one of the few times I am not so busy that I can actually do this. It was unfortunate your mother left for the hospital, originally I wanted to speak with her." Hiei said. "It's probably best I wait anyway, chances are you're untrustworthy to keep what I intended to tell you to yourself." And Hiei turns to walk off.

The three continue to walk off. _Believe me, Hiei. I want to know what you have to say, but I really can't help you right now. Hopefully, Aqua has my mom's contact info, so they should be able to call her. I just want to get Miley and myself home._ and she pressed her index fingers together.

"You okay, Cream? He's just an arrogant prick..." Tails said to Cream.

"I'm fine, but today was really something that I need to absorb in time." Cream answered. "I mean, Muri gave birth in class today. I didn't get to see it, but..."

"It was a shock to everyone, mostly Muri, but at least she's okay, right? Both her and her baby."

"Yeah, but this is one lesson I will have to remember for a long time."

"We all will, Cream....We all will."

"And just so you know... Mom lied, I'm not really pregnant."

"Yeah. You're reserving your womb for Tails from what I hear." said Vector.  
Cream was red in the face... "Hey!"

Tails simply sighed. _Poor Cream, that won't happen..._ She thought.

Tails learned quite the lesson that day. One she shares with Cream and doesn't plan on forgetting anytime soon. But as the beginning of her fifth week comes, Tails finds that birth is not only amazing, but also a little scary. Part of her is still uncertain as to how her daughter will appear to her come time for delivery, but one thing is for certain... She will continue to have the support she needs to deal with it when the time comes for her own labour.

Despite all of this, Tails was able to confide her problems in her friend Muri, who seems to be in the same situation as herself. Yet, many questions remain unanswered... perhaps it is best this way.


	24. Chapter 24

(( WARNING: This chapter contains sensitive issues, any of the content that has affected people in their lives is purely coincidental and we apologise if we open any old wounds. By reading on, you agree not to comment on the content of this chapter in any bad way. We mean no offence by what we write. Thank you.))

A new day dawned, and Tails had gotten up earlier than usual, but the sounding of the clock stated it was still 8 in the morning. She left her room, having decided to get completely dressed in a maternity top and trousers, rather than her usual skirt. She walked into the kitchen, and saw a fresh breakfast had already been served for her, but Sonic was nowhere to be found. _Not that it matters..._ She thought. Tails was not hesitant to have the breakfast served for her and found a note from Sonic. It simply told her that he was having a race with Shadow and that he'd return shortly.

"I wonder what I should do..." Tails asked herself. "I know..." Tails then walked over to the phone, picked it up and pulled it to the sofa, taking a seat and dialling Vanilla's house number.

After a few rings, there was finally a response. "Hi, we can't come to the phone right now. But please leave a message and we'll get back to you."

"Hm...I guess things are still hectic..." Tails said to herself. "I wonder if I should try their mobiles...maybe I should leave them to it for now."

She hangs up the phone and stretches, picking up the remote and turning on the television, flipping through some channels. However, not finding any, the fox quickly grew bored. _There's nothing around I can tinker with either..._ She thought. "Would it be silly to leave on my own..?" She asked herself. _What are the chances....he hasn't bothered me for this long, what's to say he will if I risk one day..._ And with that, Tails stood, stretched and rubbed her belly, before she moved around the house, gathering her belongings and necessaries and left a note for Sonic, before leaving the house and heading to town.

Tails had safely gone from the house to town, nothing from our favourite cunning villain. She had enjoyed herself in town, she went to many shops and a lot of people were very friendly, she was given a few discounts, though she denied them, they were insistent, so a few items she bought were half price or some other discount. Tails had the time to pick herself up an Ice cream, which she more than happily enjoyed, and she ended her fun with a sit down in the park, to relax, the sun light falling down on her was welcomed.  
"This is nice..." She said to herself, resting her head back, with her eyes closed.

"Well now, looks like you're having a bit of 'Us time' I see." a voice was heard by Tails' ears.

Tails opened her eyes and looked around for the voice. "Um, yes." She said.

At that time, Honey appears and sits next to Tails. "So, how are you two doing?"

"Oh, hello Honey. We're fine. I haven't seen you in some time, how are you?" Tails asked.

"Doing the usual." and Honey crosses her legs. "So, I heard something exciting happened in your life."

"You did?"

"Tell me about it."

"Are you talking about Muri giving birth at the Lamaze?"

"Oh... that's what happened." and Honey's expression changed.

"What else would there be?"

"Well, you tell me."

"I went on a date at some point, other than that I can't really think of anything else."

"Oh, I see." and Honey sighed. "Well, what did your friend have?"

"She gave birth to a boy, and he was cute." Tails smiled. "She named him Kweli, but I haven't seen either since the birth." She said.

"So she gave birth to a son...."

"Yes."

"I see. Well, send her my congrats the next time you meet."

"I will do that." Tails smiled again.

"Hey, Honey..." Tails began. "You know I'm the real Tails, don't you?"

"Are you?" Honey questioned the fox.

"Would you believe me if I said I was?"

"What I believe doesn't matter."

"Yes it does, because it determines how you know me."

"I don't know much about Miley Inari. As for Miles Prower, I only know of that fox beyond my fists."

"Well, you can call me what you wish then, though in public, it's better to be referred to as Miley." Tails said. "So, what will happen for the rest of your day?"

Honey laughed. "Well then, who do you believe you are?"

"I'm me..." Tails said.

"Which me?"

"The me I need to be."

"So are you the me that is Miley Inari, or the me that is Miles Prower? Don't answer now, but think about your actual and cosplay lives. Either way, you have a decision to make... and probably one to announce in the near future."

"There is one thing that has me confused..." Tails said.

"What might that be?"

"The first real 'hoax' that accrued that Miley was the real Tails, this was covered up when the 'real' Tails sent an audio file to them, but I didn't do it."

"Of course not."

"I only wonder now, who did?"

"Perhaps someone is looking out for you..."

"Maybe, but 'who'?" Tails repeated.

"You tell me... if you know I mean."

"I don't."

"What else don't you know?"

"What do you mean by that?"

It was at that time the two girls began to see many other faces appear, ending their alone time. "Looks like we should go elsewhere and talk... but it's your choice." said Honey. "I won't do anything that you two won't like."

"I'm fine with that." Tails replied.

"Come, let's go and grab something then."

Tails then stood, but wobbled a little. "Whoa...so now she wakes up..." She said, rubbing her belly a little, having gained her balance. "So, where to?"

"I'm not picky at the moment." Honey answered. "The choice is yours, so long as we can have a little discussion."

"We can either go to Aqua's salon or pick up an ice cream in a place I know of, which is usually quiet."

"Quiet and private don't always walk hand in hand. Either way, this is your lead."

"Well, if you want private, the best place I can think of is Rouge's club, she has private bars, which are rarely occupied." Tails replied.

"Your choice, but keep what I said in mind."

"Rouge is good for providing private places, so let's go see her...but I still want another ice cream." So Tails began heading off towards Rouges Club.

_Well, I did say this was her lead._ Honey thought and followed Tails.

The girls walked for 10 minutes, Tails picked herself up an ice cream and they soon arrived to Rouge's club, it was closed, but they could still go in. Tails walked in and looked around.  
"Rouge, you about?" She asked.

"Perhaps we should try somewhere else..." suggests Honey.

"If they weren't in, the door wouldn't have been open..." Tails replied.

"Well, let's look around."

"Okay." Tails replied.

After a look around, but neither girl stepping into the staff area.  
"Odd...Yeah, maybe we should just go somewhere else, but I don't know anywhere else where we wouldn't be bothered." Tails said to Honey.

"Your move, I'm just a follower." said Honey.

"Well, perhaps you should take initiative?"

"Nope."

Tails sighed. "Fine." She said. "Um..." Tails waited and pondered for a moment.

"Go on..."

"Geez, be patient. I can't think of another quiet location, so, we'll just chat here until Rouge or someone shows up." Tails said, before heading over and taking a seat in 'Shadow's corner'.

"Well, what have you thought of?" asked Honey.

"In terms of what?"

"Anything, like your friends for instance."

"Not following, sorry." Tails replied. "You're comfortable with standing up?"

"I'll manage; being in a state to stretch is good."

"Anyway, you'll need to enhance your question."

"Look at it this way. I'll be fine standing up."

"I meant with the question you previously asked..."

"What about your friends?"

"What about them?"

"Why aren't they here?"

"It's the start of the day, I don't know where they are or what they're doing."

"So, where do you think everyone has gone?"

"Well, Sonic's racing Shadow, that much I know. The rest I'm unsure, perhaps Vanilla and Cream are checking in on Muri. Other than that, no idea." Tails replied.

"Is there a room where we can talk here?"

"Hold on a moment." And Tails stands and heads into the staff area, she goes towards Rouge's office and knocks on the door. "Rouge, are you in there?" She called. There was still no answer.

Tails became frustrated and pulled her mobile, clicks in her contacts and rings Rouge, putting the phone to her ear and waiting, whilst heading out of the staff area.

"Know the beauty of gems and bejewelled" was all that was heard, then the tone went to disconnect.

Tails hung up. "Has everyone died or what?" She asked herself as she came back to Honey. "Well, Rouge can get mad at me for all I care, let's go into the back." Tails said to Honey.

"Lead the way." said Honey.

And so, Tails leads Honey into one of the private bars. "Keep in mind, since we don't have permission, I can't offer you anything." Tails said to her.

"That's fine, but I guess we can talk for a moment." said Honey.

"Go ahead." And Tails took a seat.

Honey took another seat. "You're quite comfortable with this place."

"Just say it already, no one but Rouge'll walk in on us here." Tails replied. "Or Shadow or Omega, but who are they to repeat anything?"

"Fine... Here's the question. What are you going to do when Lavender is born?"

"I don't know..."

"Allow me to clear things up. Who do you plan to be when your daughter is born?"

"I'm going to be Tails, everyone should know eventually, I just need a little more time to come to terms with things."

"Really?"

"You sound surprised."

"Not really. I've been helping you."

"I can't hide forever, you know."

"True, but you can reveal yourself."

"When the time comes and no sooner."

"So when will the time come?"

"When I am ready."

Honey crossed her legs. "So that's it? 'When you are ready', that is when the time will come?"

"What did you expect, an exact time and date?"

"I expected an honest answer."

"What makes you think I'm lying?"

"So when have you told someone who's greeted you, 'Thanks, but I'm really Tails.' Can you tell me when that has occurred?"

"Honestly, you're thinking about this too much." Tails said. "I don't know how I'll do it, nor do I care right now, I have more important issues at hand."

Honey crossed her legs the other way. "Of course, it all makes sense. You have lost yourself in an alias. You don't know when it's time to reveal yourself, you never had it planned. I can see right through you. But I guess this was my fault..." Tails didn't reply, but she looks like she took offence. "It was me... all this time, it was me."

"What do you mean?"

"You wanted answers, now you have them. All of this is because of me."

"You mean the whole reason people think I am Miley Inari in the first place?"

"No, that is only part of it."

"Then explain in detail, what else is you?"

"This whole 'Miley is Miley' deal with the media."

"So, you're the one who sent the media that recording?"

"Of course. It took the use of a voice altering device, but I pulled it off. Even that day at the fashion show, before all of the hoaxes... I could've ratted you then. In that one moment, I could've told everyone that Tails is really a girl. But I didn't... and that is because the world is so accustomed to you being male."

"I'm well aware that if I _was_ a male, you'd have me by the balls then and still do." Tails said. "All I need to do is figure out the one who is insistent to make sure the world knows the real truth." Tails grinned. "You know what. Ignore my first comment, thinking back, that makes no sense now." And she giggled. Honey just remained quiet, she only uncrossed her legs. "So, what else do we need to discuss, if anything?"

"There's nothing left to discuss. Clearly, you aren't ready... But it makes sense, we all keep secrets. Secrets that only we know and secrets that no one will ever know until they find out."

"I'm sure you have plenty of secrets you're not ready to share."

"I have the biggest secret of all, the one you just told me."

"Uh huh. Anyway, if that's all, we should probably leave here encase Rouge decides to get angry if she shows up." Tails said. "Thanks for looking out for me though."

"One last thing, before we go." Honey told Tails as the two of them stood up.

"What is it?"

"Your biggest choice will come tomorrow."

"Huh?"

"Your biggest choice will come tomorrow."

"What choice?"

"Obviously, you don't believe me. No matter, you will find out tomorrow."

"You best not mean that you're limiting me until tomorrow to choose whether or not the world knows I am the real Tails or not..."

"You did tell me you had a bigger choice than that, young lady."

"I hate vague people. Why they can't get to the point is beyond me."

"You told me that you had a bigger choice other than whether the world wants to know about Miles and Miley, but you didn't say which. No matter, you will tell me when you're ready." Tails doesn't reply, but she was irritated by the fact she felt in the dark. "So, are you going to tell me about this bigger choice of yours?"

"I don't recall saying I have a bigger choice to make, just more concerning issues."

"Concerning issues always lead to choices. Well, does that mean you plan on telling me, or will this remain secret?"

"My more concerning issue is the fact I'm soon to be a mother, don't you think that's more important than everyone knowing who I really am?"

"No. They are just as important."

"Fine." Tails stretched. "Well, since you refuse to tell me what choice I am being forced to make tomorrow, I'll take my leave."

"Fine, but there's something I will tell you in return. If you want to hear it."

"Go ahead."

"Is there somewhere else we can go away from prying ears?"

"I am _**not**_ finding another room for you. This place is as good as any." Tails said. "Unless we go to Sonic's house. Even if he's there, there's always my room."

"Then we will stay here."

Honey took a deep breath and exhaled. "One question that has constantly come up since I've announced as a model was how I knew so much about maternity wear. Why do you think I know so much?"

"I've had my guesses, and I do not believe it is because you attended Lamaze for no reason."

"Then what do you believe?"

"That you were pregnant at some point."

"You're right. I was pregnant once... but that was a long while back."

"It also opens up more questions, like when I showed you my Sonogram pictures."

"It's painful... even today. After the tournament removed me, I thought about how I would achieve my back pay. But in order to do that, I had to become stronger.

"So I went into seclusion to train. My training was something I figured would give me the strength I needed to become stronger. It would also give me the answers that I sought. I did everything right... from training and rest, to a balanced diet. One day after my training, I woke up that morning and felt sick like a dog.... uh, no offense."

"Why would I take offence?"

"Never mind. I went to the doctor since I was due for a physical anyway. I knew I was in for a clean bill of health, but I asked about my sudden sickness anyway. I waited a long three hours because my doctor ran twenty tests which all deduced the same result. I was pregnant...

"It was weird. How could I get pregnant without having any male interaction? The answer lied in calcium. My intake of calcium was high that it caused one of the strands in my body's calcium level to mutate. As a result, I fertilised my own egg and became pregnant. I was a living example of Parthenogenesis." Tails was just gobsmacked, so much so she was speechless.

"That's right, Honey was a virgin mother, just like in the 'scriptures'. Anyway, I was told that I would give birth in nine weeks. I didn't understand anything, but I simply decided to let it go. Like a good mother-to-be should, I took care of my 'selves' and continued training. I trained until I became too big to do anything else. Being big and pregnant was a pain. Everything I wore practically exploded."

"So, you decided to make a maternity line."

"I made more trips to the needle and thread than I did to the supermarket." and Honey giggled. "Come five weeks, I took a look at my first sonogram. It was ironic... The one girl who got pregnant on her own was going to bare a son."

"Go on."

"I took child development classes, going every day. I looked through the confusing ass pamphlets and threw them into the trash. However, I understood the videos better... I didn't use my real name in the classes though, but I breezed through them. One night, seven weeks into my term was a night I will never forget. Everything went perfect for me, except when it came time for bed.

"I woke up in the middle of the night feeling restless. So I decided to have a glass of water, to calm my nerves. Then came the sharp pains that my womb gave me.... I was having sharp pains, and they caused me to bleed. Once I got to the hospital, they told me I was going into labour. Two weeks early and my body was giving birth. They were wheeling me into the OR and I had dilated seven centimetres. My labour was painful and bloody, but in the end, I gave birth to my son. Too bad this joyous moment wouldn't last long.

"I held him as he cried, he sounded gurgly and they used the sucker on him... but instead of fluid, it was blood. To end a tragic story... my son was only alive for one half hour. His lungs were underdeveloped and filled with blood. My son died from his own blood..."

And Tails ears drooped. "Oh, Honey...I'm so sorry..." She said.

Tears rivered from Honey's eyes. "It hurts to see mothers being happy about their upcoming children. It pains me to no end seeing sonograms." And now Tails felt bad, but said nothing. "And that's my biggest secret. Tell them if you want, but after that day, I had to make the biggest choice of my life. And... Well, you know how my story ends."

"Why would I tell anyone that?"

"It doesn't matter." and Honey wipes her eyes. "We better go now. Lead the way."

And Tails nods before leading Honey out of the room and back into the main area of the club, but the two left the building, making sure it was shut behind them.  
"I think I'll head home now." Tails said.

"Right, let me escort you home at least." Honey offers.

"Are you sure?" Tails asked.

"It's only an offer."

"Well, if it's not too much trouble."

"Then I will walk you home." And with a nod, the girls headed off in the direction of Sonic's house.

Meanwhile, inside of Club Rouge, there stood Omega in the shadows. "SENTIENT BEINGS... SUCH BEHAVIOR IS IRRELEVANT." he said, then returned to the shadows.


	25. Chapter 25

Honey and Tails head down the street. The two had really learned a bit about themselves and they continued to walk all the way home.

"I apologize for being too emotional a while back. It was very unethical." said Honey.

"Don't be silly, we all need a good cry now and then, and you had reason. You should have seen me at the start of my pregnancy. The saying 'putting on the water works' wouldn't justify how much I cried." Tails replied.

"I see."

"So...do you have a love interest, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Nah. There's no time for a man in my life."

"How come?"

"Too busy."

"Hm...well, fare enough."

"I see."

Onward the two girls walked. It took a little time, but Sonic's place soon came into view.  
"Well, there it is." Tails said. "Want some tea or coffee or something?"

"No, I just wanted to see you home safely." Honey answered. "I better get going now. You two need more quality time."

"Aww, and here I wanted to discuss something else with you." And Tails stuck her tongue out a little.

"Sorry, I'm a busy lady."

"Can I arrange a time then?"

"Perhaps you can."

"I will ask now, just encase I am wasting my time, but as you're in the whole fashion thing, know anything I can use even in my state to make a guy sweat?" Tails asked.

"Explain further."

"I want to tease, if you get my drift."

"Tease?"

And Tails sweat dropped. "How to explain it. It's like a form of seduction. You know, making a guy sweat, have you _honestly_ had no interaction with males at all?"

"So you wanna get laid?"

"Ehh...It's a long story, but there's a guy interested in me, I want to tease him a little, not necessarily get laid."

"So there **is** a man in your life..."

"Did I say there wasn't?"

"Well, you can always tease with the maternity bra."

"Hm..." Tails was a little disappointed. "I see, well, nevermind."

"What, the maternity bras tease well."

"Perhaps, but I was hoping for a little more, I guess pregnancy limits sexiness as well..."

"Um... you can remove the cups on the maternity bras."

"Not the point, it's fine."

"The best tease is from the tits, but I guess you want more than just teasing." Tails didn't reply to that. "So you do want to get laid..."

"I'm not saying."

"Well, before you do, make sure you are stable."

"Stable?"

"After a while, mothers will enter a 'stable' period in their pregnancy. This period makes it safe for mothers to have sex without risk of miscarrying their baby."

"So, I should probably get that checked with my fellow doc, huh?"

"You can ask about it."

"I shall." Tails thought. "Then again, I have already had sex twice before..." She said to herself. "I'll still check..."

"With that said, I will leave the two of you alone. You should try to take it easy."

"Yeah, sure. Catch you later, Honey." And Tails headed off into the house.

Once inside, Tails decided to test the household. "Sonic! Are you back yet?!" Again, there was no answer. "Guess not." And so Tails went over to the phone and again took it to the couch, dialling Vanilla's house and waiting. There was no response, but was given ten seconds of music, followed by a beep. Tails hung up the phone. "I guess she's still not available. Not at home at least." So Tails dialled her mobile instead.

"You have reached Vanilla's World. However, the population has been exceeded, good-bye." was all Tails heard before the line disconnects.

"What the hell, Vanilla..." Tails said before hanging up. "Seriously, has everyone just fallen off the face of the planet or what?" And so she dials Cream's number.

Finally, the line picks up. "Hello?" Cream asks.

"Cream, you're alive, thank heavens." Tails said. "Seriously though, how are you?"

"I'd rather not say."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I'd... really rather not say."

And Tails paused for a while. "Okay...Now I'm worried."

"Relax, I'm fine."

"I'm still worried. It's not like you to keep things from me."

"Fine, I give. I'm actually busy right now."

"So everyone is." Tails said. "I can't get a hold of Vanilla and Rouge has gone missing as well. I only wanted to see how everyone was doing and all..."

"Rouge is on a mission and Mom went to check up on Muri and Kweli."

"And you?"

"I'm busy."

"With what?"

"I'm being... circumcised."

"What? Why?"

"What's wrong with getting circum.... See, this is why I didn't want to say."

"I'm confused, but fine, I won't press the issue."

"Is there anything else?"

"No, I'll leave you alone..." And Tails sighed. "Talk to you later." And she hung up. "I give up..." She said. She then shifted her body and laid on her side on the couch, placing her head on the arm rest. She closed her eyes and just listened to the clock ticking.

Cream pressed the red phone button on her cell. _Next time, I'm turning my phone off._ She thought.

Tails laid on the couch for nearly 3 hours, just doing nothing, and Sonic still hadn't returned. _So much for not being long..._ She thought. _Damn it, I'm hungry again..._ All of a sudden, three raps came to the door.

Tails shifted her body and stood up; she walked to the door and opened it. "Hello?" She asked.

"Over here." and Tails soon saw that it was Knuckles and his brother. "You look bored." he said.

"Everyone seems busy today...Vanilla is with Muri and Kweli, Creams having some private time, Rouge has vanished, apparently on a mission and Sonic's god knows where with Shadow..." Tails ranted, before sighing. "Come on in. And hello Kneecaps, how are you?" She asked sweetly.

Knuckles, with his brother, entered the place and had a seat. "At least you got something, everyone else's phones are off. And the Ocean Tornado is gone." said Knuckles.

"What is going on?" Tails asked.

"I guess everyone's busy. I can't even get a hold of Tikal or Shade."

"I guess when Tikal called Blaze a lesbian she was admitting a dark truth." and Tails giggled. "So, what brings you here?"

"Actually, I heard that your friend had her baby in class. Charmy said you were a real trooper in helping out."

"Yeah, poor Muri...It was so unexpected, and scary. But she pulled through just fine, thanks to Vanilla." Tails replied. "I feel sorry for Charmy too. The day he has to take charge and one of the students goes into labour, that'll haunt him for a while."

"As much as he's seen Saffron lay eggs, I doubt it. Now to answer your question." At this point, Knuckles gives Kneecaps to Tails, then sets the bag he wore next to Tails. "You're gonna babysit today."

"I...I'm what?" Tails asked looking at Kneecaps.

"You're babysitting." Knuckles cleared up. "And with this, I'll take my leave." and Knuckles heads for the door.

"Hey, wait a..." But Knuckles left. "What a jerk...he could have at least called first..." She then looked at Kneecaps. "So, what am I gonna do with you, I wonder..."

It was at that time when the phone rang. Tails carefully put Kneecaps on the couch to her side and picked up the phone, which was still nearby and answered it.  
"Hello?" She asked.

"I forgot to mention," it was Knuckles on the phone, "I'll come and pick KM up in two days. Everything you need is in the bag, along with a list of contact numbers in case anything goes wrong."

"Just who do you think you are to give me Kneecaps without even asking? Some people have such nerve, you know that?"

"Listen up 'Mom', think of this babysitting scenario as a test for you." Knuckles cleared up. "You may have learned a few things in your class, but the books and movies don't mean jack when it comes to real kids."

"You could have at least asked first...sheesh." And in frustration, she hung up. "Jerk..." The phone rang again. Tails however ignored it, believing it to be Knuckles again.

As a result, the phone went to its answering machine. "Sorry for calling when no one was home, foxgirl. But you better learn a bit of patience with this babysitting gig. In a matter of weeks, you'll be having your own kid which will be a lot younger than my little bro. So you might as well prepare with a real baby without complaining. And KM, don't give her too much hell in the two days without me." After that, Knuckles disconnects.

"Jerk..." Tails uttered one last time. She turned to Kneecaps. "I got no idea what to do with you..." She said. Tails stood. "You hungry little guy?" She asked. Kneecaps simply looked at Tails. "As expected..." And Tails sighed.

Tails simply decided to take Kneecaps into the kitchen and sit him on the floor as she fished around for things. While rummaging around for things, Tails soon heard the sound of falling pots and pans. Soon Kneecaps' crying is heard. Tails looks toward Kneecaps to figure out what happened, concerning. Kneecaps continued to cry as he sat next to all of the fallen pots and pans.

Tails placed a few things she was carrying on the counter and walked over to Kneecaps and picked him up and rocked him slightly. "Shh, shh...there, there. Did you hurt yourself?" She asked as she tried to sooth poor Kneecaps. _It's not even been five minutes..._ She thought. _I'll be sure to remove all sharp objects from his reaches at all times..._

Kneecaps continued to cry, flailing his arms in the process. And Tails proceeded to try and calm him down, resorting to removing him completely from the kitchen. "Hey, shhh..." She said soothingly. _Knuckles, you're so dead..._

And thus, Tails did everything she could to calm Kneecaps down, she stroked his head, spoke soothingly, rocked him and paced around. It took a while, but Kneecaps finally stopped crying and began settling down.

"Good boy..." Tails said. "Is that better, hm?" She continued to sooth him as such until she was absolutely sure he was calm.

After calming him completely she put him in the safety on the couch. "Now be a good boy and stay here for Tails, okay?" She smiled at him.

After this, Tails returned to the kitchen to finish fixing up a sandwich for herself, and returned to the living room, hoping Kneecaps hadn't caused chaos. Five seconds later, a PLOMP was heard, followed by Kneecaps screaming.

"This is gonna be a looong 2 days." So Tails put aside her sandwich and proceeded to repeat the same treatment as last time, only this time she sat down with him in her arms, though her bump did not make it an easy task. Kneecaps continued screaming as the tears left his eyes.

Tails wiped Kneecaps face and stroked his head, rocking herself and thus him back and forth, she hummed a soothing tune to try and calm him, using the same one that Muri had sung days before. Kneecaps cried for a bit, but managed to calm down.

"There we go." Tails said. "Looks like I can't let you out of my sight for two seconds, scamp."

Meanwhile at the hospital, Vanilla was checking on Muri and Kweli, as Cream had said.

"So, how are you feeling?" Vanilla asked.

"I'm okay now." Muri replied. "I feel numb though..."

"Probably because of the drip."

"Maybe." Muri said. "Um...I'm sorry..."

"Sorry for what?"

"The day of the Lamaze...I knew something was wrong ever since Seifa showed up, I was just too scared to say anything..."

"I knew that. The point was to keep you as relaxed as possible."

"I don't think I can face those people again..."

"Why, because the class saw you give birth in front of them?"

"It was embarrassing..."

"You'll be okay."

"So...what'll happen to us now?"

"I'm not sure. But I will tell you something, you aren't alone in this hospital."

"Would you.....would you...take Kweli?" Muri asked. "I can't take him back to...Nazaruda....It's not safe." Muri asked Vanilla.

"Of course I will. But you aren't going anywhere near there."

"I will be forced to some time, Tia can be very persuasive..."

"You two are in the hospital, neither of you are going anywhere."

"We can't stay here forever."

"I know, but you and your aunt aren't leaving anytime soon."

"Kirika is here?"

"Yes. I got a message on my phone before class saying she was here. After I settled things with you, I went to check on her. Don't worry, she's okay."

"Where is Kweli now?"

"Right there." and Vanilla points to where Kweli was laying. "He's been here with you all this time."

"Oh..." And Muri looks in the direction of Kweli. "He's still so cute...and so tiny. But...It's still a wonder how I managed to give birth to him."

"You did and that's all that matters."

"How are you, by the way?"

"Feeling better, knowing that you're safe."

"And how is Miley and Cream?"

"They are fine. Cream had an appointment and Miley is safe at home."

Muri shifted slightly. "I'm a little uncomfortable..." She said.

"How so?"

"I'm just uncomfortable..." Muri said. "My tail has pins and needles..."

"Stand up and walk around."

Muri then slowly pushed herself into a sitting position. "It feels odd without the extra weight, and I still feel heavy."

"That'll happen, childbirth takes a lot out of you." So, Muri was assisted to her feet, she was wobbly, but she felt better having been in a position to wag her tail a little and she walks around a bit.

"This feels better." She said.

"Sometimes, you have to just walk around." Vanilla said.

"What will you do for the rest of the day?" Muri asked Vanilla, before she walked over to her son and leaned over him, giving him an loving look.

"Just a few runs, then I'll be back."

"That's okay." Muri said. "I still can't believe I carried this little thing inside me..."

"They are amazing, huh?"

"I wonder what my mother thought when I was this tiny."

"Who knows."

"Only my mother." Muri replied, she then returned and sat on her bed. "You can run your errands if you like, I don't mind."

"Of course. Enjoy the moments with your son." and Vanilla left the room. Muri smiled as she looked towards Kweli once more.

Meanwhile, Vanilla left the hospital.  
"Oi, you." Someone called, clearly to her.

Vanilla turned to the voice. "May I help you?" she questioned.

There stood a white fox with two long ponytails in her hair and she was wearing a large black dress, which looks like it'd be fitted on a doll. "Take my advice, stop interfering and don't return here, I can assure you Muri will be....well looked after." She said.

"Of course she will be looked after." said Vanilla. "I am her legal guardian now."

The fox laughed. "Bullshit." She said. "You'd be better off leaving her well alone."

Vanilla smiled. "You must be the one that wants love. No matter, we can enjoy a glass of tea sometime."

"You don't know anything about me."

"So your name wouldn't happen to be Tia then? My mistake. If you do find her, please tell her that I have everything under control."

"I am Tia, and you appear to be an idiot." The fox replied, becoming irate. "Don't make my warnings turn to threats, because I can get very nasty. Stay away from Nazaruda's business or you'll die, I guarantee it." The fox then went to take her leave. _You poor thing. Keeping Muri safe is my business, it's my only concern._ Vanilla thought, then pressed a button on her cell phone.

"So, Tia has plans for things, does she? I guess this means I'll have to alter things a bit." and Vanilla walked back into the hospital.

Back up with Muri, she had gotten back into bed and made herself comfortable again. It took a while, but Vanilla re-entered the room with Muri. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"You're back already?" Muri asked.

"Yes. There are a few things for you to sign."

"Huh?"

"You wanted me to take Kweli, right? Well, there are some papers that you need to fill out."

"Oh, okay."

"Grab Kweli, he can come too."

Muri then gets herself up, stretches slightly and walks over to her son, she ever so slightly wraps her arms around and picks him up. As she looks at him, she can't help but smile. After regaining her thoughts, she walked over to Vanilla with him.

"Let's deal with that paperwork." Vanilla said with a smile.

"Okay." Muri said. "And Kweli will be in safe hands."

"That's right."

Vanilla and Muri managed to speak with the doctors. It took twenty minutes, but after filling out all the necessary paperwork, the deed was done. Muri had signed papers allowing Vanilla temporary custody over Kweli. Part of Muri didn't want to do this, but she did it for the safety of her son.

"I'd ask you to look after him...but I know you will..." Muri said.

"Of course." said Vanilla. "I will need one last thing from you though."

"Yes?" Muri asked.

"Your breast milk of course."

"Oh..of course. I'll get on that then." Muri blushed. _New mothers... the tasks of motherhood are always a chore. Now I wonder how a certain fox will handle this situation..._

Vanilla walked Muri to her room as she held Kweli, but didn't enter. She thought it best to give the new mother her privacy with the pump.

After a good 10 minutes, Muri came out of the room holding the vials of her milk. "This was all I could get...sorry..." She said.

"It's not much, but it's okay." said Vanilla. "I better get going now. And here's the number to your aunt's room." then Vanilla hands Muri the strip of paper containing the number.

"Thank you, but I won't see her just yet." Muri said.

"But you can still call her."

"Maybe later." Muri replied with a smiled. "Bye bye, Kweli, be a good boy now, okay?" And Vanilla walked off with Kweli. _He's in good hands, Muri. I promise you._ She thought.

Muri returned to her room and shut the door behind her, she walked over to her bed and got in it, before bursting into tears and covering herself.

Aqua walked into her salon, having finally opened it for the start of the day, her girls were already beginning work on cleaning up and making everything tip-top for the customers whom were expected within the hour. Aqua however left them to it and wondered up into her office. Once there, she took out a few papers from her desk and then returned to the main area and then outside, taking her seat and looking over the papers.

Aqua read up for a good few minutes until she heard a familiar footstep, sounding like metal, she looked up to see a robot of some sort.  
"Ah, Rei, bored again are we?" Aqua asked.  
"Affirmative."  
"Shouldn't you be doing something for Hiei?"  
"Negative. Primary target achieved, awaiting further orders."  
"I see, well, in that case, there's a chair in there that needs replacing, do that if you don't mind, the girls will point out which one and where."

"Mission accepted." And Rei headed inside the shop, leaving Aqua to her papers. Back in the shop, the girls had their first customers of the day walk in.

"Ah, welcome to Blue Waves, what can we do for you today?" One of the girls greeted the customers with a bow.

"Hello there, perhaps you can do something for my hair." Tikal said to the girls. "And not just me, my friend here can use a work with her hair as well." and Tikal pointed to Shade.

"Absolutely. Please, come in and take a seat, we'll begin work as soon as we can. Do enjoy your stay here at Blu-..." It was at this point the sound of metal ripping from the ground was heard, startling the whole group. Rei had lifted the chair that needed replacing rather carelessly.  
"Oh dear...Rei, now you need to fix that..." Aqua said, walking in. "Oh dear...Please don't mind the ruckus, Rei was only meant to replace the chair, not destroy it."  
"Apologies, Aqua." And Rei took the chair away and later came out with the new one and began repairing, fixing it up in no time, and the girls cleaned up quickly before they sat Shade and Tikal down.  
"So, what would you like done?" A girl asked.

"I'll have a perm." Tikal answered.

"Of course." The girl said, before she took up the tools.  
"And you, ma'am?" Another girl asked Shade.

"Give me the Valkyrie look." Shade answered.

"As you wish." So the girls began work.

"I want to look really nice for my show tonight." said Tikal.  
"Trust me, you'll look fine." Shade said. "I guess I can learn to live a little in this modern world."

"So, ladies, getting styled for anything special?" Aqua asked, as she took a seat next to Tikal and sat back.

"Wow, look at you." said Tikal. "You wouldn't happen to be in the Lamaze class that Miley is in, would you?"

"I would be, indeed. The last lesson was cut short, however." Aqua replied. "Poor Muri gave birth in the middle of class, I feel so sorry for her."

"Cream told me about that. Vanilla really is a good midwife."  
"Was she in pain?" asked Shade.

"I believe so, yes..." Aqua replied.

"I wish I was there." said Tikal. "Birth is amazing to me. Plus, I would like to see live birth for a change."  
"Well, we aren't lucky/cursed for that one. Being born twice is weird, but it works for me Tikal." said Shade.

"I won't question that." Aqua said. "But the sight, even though concerning was wonderful indeed, I got scolded for wanting my pregnancy to speed up so I may see my babies too." And Aqua giggled.

"Well, it was probably for the best." said Shade. "You don't want to birth too early."

"Still, it's something worth waiting for."

"I know most women want to have a painless birth."  
"Too true." said Tikal. "I met this one woman who had an orgasmic birth."

"Interesting..." Aqua said.

"Yeah... so I looked it up and there's an actual website for it."

"That's kind of weird, but who am I to judge?"

"What some women will do just to get off." said Shade. "From sex while pregnant to having an orgasmic birth..."

"I see."

"If I had to cum while laying an egg, I'd feel so indignified..."

"At least you meatballs can have children." Came Rei's metallic voice.

"You know, I would probably be shocked to cum while laying my egg." said Tikal. "Assuming my getting pregnant, but I hope the egg doesn't rub up against my G in the process."

"Anyway, as interesting as your conversation, you might notice some of my girls are becoming uncomfortable." Aqua smiled, looking around at her staff.

"Yeah, I don't want this affecting my do." said Shade.  
"My mistake, ladies." Tikal apologised. "It's a small world after all...."

"Rei, you're excused, go break someone else's things." Aqua told Rei.  
"Affirmative." and with that, the bucket of bolts left noisily.

"That's a pretty nice bit of tech." said Shade.

"Rei's an odd one." Aqua replied.

"How so?" asked Tikal.

"Well, Rei reacts differently than most machines." Aqua replied. "Almost emotionally."

"Interesting AI."

"The really scary thing is, Rei just showed up some time, no one knows from where or how."

"Hmm..."

"We don't question it much, because Rei is forever loyal to Hiei." Aqua said. "At least, that's what the apparent programming says."

"Not even worth trying to hack..."

"Oh, Tyrone attempted and suffered greatly, I'll tell you that."

"Enough about the bots and whatnot, let's discuss stuff that makes us happy." said Tikal.

"Bots don't make you happy, eh?" And Aqua stretched. "So, what are your interests?" She asked. It was by this point that Shade's do was finished.

"Well, simple things. Nature's blessings and whatnot." Tikal said.

"I see." Aqua replied. "I guess I'd have a blessing of nature."

"I have to say..." Shade said as she saw her reflection in the mirror. "I was hoping for Valkyrie, but got Proud Amazon instead. Not exactly the hairdo I wanted, but I like it. It accents me quite well."

"I...I'm sorry..." The girl looked ashamed.

"Hello, I said that I like it. Don't get all bummed out."

"My girls take their place here very seriously, and if they mess up, regardless of if you like the outcome, they take it badly, please excuse her." Aqua said. "Well, at least you're nicer about it, usually when someone doesn't get what they want, they throw a big hissy and upset the other girls here..."

"I guess that's why you girls have moved your shop?" Tikal guessed.

"You wouldn't believe some of the extents some girls would go to about their appearance, take this one girl, and her twin brother, the brother didn't get anything, but one of my girls gave her the wrong do, so she waited until she went home and beat the living snot out of her...Unfortunately, I lost a good employee..."

"So in other words, this place is going through tough times?" asked Shade.

"Nah, I had the issue sorted. We moved because there's more customers here." Aqua said.

"I see." and Shade ran her hand through her locks.  
"I personally like Shade's look, even if it is 'Proud Amazon' so to speak." said Tikal. And now Tikal's do was finished.

"And what of yours?" Aqua asked.

Tikal grabbed a mirror and took a look at her locks. "Such volume..." she said with a smile.

"I'm happy you like it." The girl behind Tikal smiled also.

"So, do you girls have any males in your life?" Aqua asked.

"Not anymore." Shade answered.  
"Working on it." Tikal answered.

"Singular girls, interesting. Have your eyes set on anyone in particular? I know an echidna who could use a date. He's a bit of a hardass though." And Aqua giggled.

"Rain check." Shade answered.

"I'm not one for ill-tempered men." Tikal answered.

"Fare enough." Aqua said. "So, I take it you've not targeted someone already then?"

"Not going to tell." and Tikal stuck out her tongue.

"Oooh, a secretive too, that just makes me all the more curious, but I won't pry, after all, we're strangers. I do hope you enjoy your 'new looks'. Is there anything else my shop can do for you whilst you're here?" Aqua asked.

"We'll see." Tikal and Shade answer as they look around.

"Spa, Massage. We do all sorts of beauty treatments here to make women feel beautiful and relaxed." Aqua explained.

"And where's your chiropractor?" asked Tikal.

"Hmm, she's sick today, I'm afraid." Aqua said.

"Or you don't have one."

"Since you're a paying customer, I shall ignore your accusation that I am lying." Aqua replied. "Things happen, but if you go into the back room and to the left, you'll see where my Chiropractor works."

"I see. How about you show me things back here?"

So Aqua carefully gets herself up, rubs her belly a bet and walks toward the back, passing the staff stairway and into the back, Tikal and Shade follow. "Back here we tend to Facials, Manicures, Pedicures, and over there is the spa." Aqua said, showing the girls the many places in this shop. "And of course, Massages."

"So this is also where chiropracting happens?" asked Tikal.

"No, that happens in that room over there." And Aqua points out another door, which states Chiropractor and the name.

"I'm gonna go and return to the girls." said Shade and headed back into the main room.  
"So that's the chiropractic room, huh?" asked Tikal.

"Like I said, she isn't here today. And if I would be completely honest, she won't be back any time soon either, since she quit 3 days ago for reasons I shall keep to myself, but it's not really something I should tell customers, is it?" Aqua said.

"Looks like my accusation was right..."

"Not really, I have another soon to come for an interview in a few days, so I may or may not have one." Aqua replied. "So, is there anything else you'd like?"

"I still want to see the inside of that chiropracting room." and Tikal ran her hand through her locks.

"Go right ahead, speaking of which, I should take Suzie's name off of it..." And Aqua walks over to the door and takes the name off, before opening it for Tikal.

"Is something the matter?" Tikal looked at Aqua.

"No, why do you ask?"

"Nothing, I just figured that you would show me inside."

"What makes you think I am not, after you." Aqua replied.

"I thought you would go in first, that's all..."

Tikal sighed. "I guess you'll let me go in first anyway." and Tikal walked inside of the room. Aqua followed and let Tikal see the room.

"Nice setup here." Tikal said. "It's quite cosy, but why is this place in the back?"

"Because it was the nicest room for it, that and it was the last room available after we'd set up." Aqua replied.

"I see. Anyway, I was wondering how someone like you keeps the energy to run such a shop?"

"I'm honestly running out of energy, I need to find out when that girl will return for her trial of manager, I go on maternity leave eventually you see, so I will be unable to run the shop and none of my current girls have or want the skill to run this place." Aqua replied. "And I find the energy because this has always been a bit of a girlish dream of mine. That, and these babies."

"Even showing me back here has worn you out..." Aqua doesn't reply, just shifts her weight from one leg to the other. Tikal shook her head. "You might as well lay down sideways on the table."

And now Aqua tilts her head. "Excuse me?"

"Go on, lay sideways on the table."

Aqua then shrugged, closed the door and walked over to the table, she turned around and shifted herself onto the table, before lying on her side as instructed.

Tikal approached the pregnant fox, then walked behind her. At this moment, Tikal's hands began to work on Aqua's back. _Such an independent mother._ Tikal thought. _She wears herself out trying to run this business. Such calmness and restraint will toll on anyone, especially this one._

_If Hiei were here, I'd know what she's thinking...oh well..._ Aqua thought.  
"So, you massage?" She asked.

"It's nice to see you're ready to make small talk with me." Tikal answered with a smile.

"I'll take that as a yes. So, are you sure you won't tell me of this mystery man? Your friend isn't here to listen now." Aqua giggled.

"Hello friend, you are quite playful." Tikal said and giggled.

"Huh?" Aqua was a little confused.

"One of each?"

"Both girls to Hiei's dismay, but you're dodging my question." Aqua replied.

"He's not happy that there is no son?"

"No..." Aqua sighed. "He already has a daughter you see, and longs for a son...even though he won't admit it, but when you have your other half walk out when you find out you have daughters, it's pretty obvious."

"I see." And Tikal places her hand on the area behind Aqua's left kidney. "Do you feel this area?"

"Which?"

"Where my hand is behind your left kidney."

"What about it?"

"This area is usually where you feel lots of stress. Since it's in the lower back, a lot of strain will occur in mothers-to-be. Yours is quite stressed, which is bad for your back. I mean, does your lower back feel more achy than usual?"

"All the time, actually."

"This is because the pressure is too high." and Tikal began to press the area of Aqua's lower back. Aqua shifts slightly in discomfort. "See that, this disk is putting too much pressure on your lower back." Tikal said. "This pressure is causing you to feel so achy."

"I see..." Aqua replied. "I feel silly, I should have picked up on that."

"But you're too busy running your business to understand your pains."

At this moment, Tikal helped Aqua sit up on the table. Then Tikal lifted Aqua's legs, placing her fully on the table and walked behind her again. "The biggest problem for pregnant women is excessive pressure on the lower back. This will make things hard for you during the remainder of your term."

"I'm curious as to how you're so knowledgeable about this?" Aqua said.

"I was taught from my elders the various things that a pregnant mother's body will go through any things." Tikal answered and placed her hands on Aqua's back. "I learned about how to give adjustments to pregnant women many years ago."

"Tribal girl, huh?"

"I am. Now try to relax as I help relieve your spine."

"Sure..." Then there were three raps at the door.

"Excuse me, Mrs Aqua?" A girls voice was called. "Are you in there?"  
"I am busy at the moment, what do you need?"  
"That nasty woman is back..." And Aqua sighed.

_Uh oh..._ thought Tikal.

"If you'll excuse me a moment." And Aqua got herself up and rolled her legs off the table.

"I will follow you." said Tikal.

Aqua got off the table and out the door, she walked into the main area to see the customers being disturbed by some rowdy girl, the same fox that Vanilla saw.  
"Tia, get out of my shop..." Aqua said walking over.  
"This place is just as big a dump as your last one, and the girls, well, they say you can cover up shit, but it's still shit." Tia said.  
"Aqua told you to leave!" One of the staff yelled at Tia, being brave, that led to Tia slapping her around the face.  
"I wouldn't do that again, Tia..." Aqua warned.

In response, Tia lifted her hand to slap the girl a second time, only to have Aqua catch her arm and stop her. Tia then violently pushed Aqua, who caught her hip on a chair, but luckily Tikal and another girl caught her before she collided with the floor.

"What is your problem?" asked Tikal.

"This bitch is my problem, as well as the rest of the trash in here, eh...the place stinks, it's bloody filthy, oops, forgot, it's covered in shit..." Tia walked over to Aqua who was gripping her hip in pain. "You were an idiot to get pregnant, makes you an easy target."  
"At least I can get pregnant, Tia." Aqua retorted.  
"Why you bitch!" And Tia lifted her hand to punch Aqua.

Tia's hand turned into a fist and went in for the swing. But what seemed like the blow was sure to land, Tia's fist was intercepted by a round, spiked ball on a chain. "What in the..." Tikal was at a loss for words.  
The ball retracted back to its owner, which happened to be Amy. "You know, if it's one thing I hate, it's a stubborn customer." she said as she walked into the salon. "Now, unless you want a facial from my wrecking hammer, I suggest you take your business elsewhere."

"Oh, looks like the little wench wants to play." And Tia cracks her knuckles. "Let's see what you have, little girl." It was at the moment someone appeared next to Tia and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her into the air.  
"Coming into this shop was a mistake, causing a ruckus was an idiots move, but attacking Aqua whilst she was pregnant, not something you wanted to do." And with that, the mysterious male blue fox threw Tia out the door, where she came face first into concrete, a girl, also a blue fox, came in afterwards.  
"Aqua, are you okay?" She asked in concern.  
"Please...I need to sit somewhere...." Aqua replied.

The male fox left the building and walked over to Tia and grabbed her by the legs, before dragging her off somewhere.

"Sorry I'm late, Boss." said Amy.

Tikal helped Aqua to a seat. "Not at all, your timing was impeccable..." Aqua replied.

"And judging for the look of the floor, your timing just got cut short." in walks Vanilla holding Kweli. "I was hoping to get here earlier, but I see that I'm wrong."

Shade finally comes out. "Sorry, I was on the can and I heard a ruckus. Is everything okay?" she asks.

"Damn you, Tia..." Aqua cursed.  
"Please relax, mrs Aqua." One of the staff advised.  
"Kai will take care of her, and speaking of which, i better go and make sure he doesn't kill her, i don't want a jailed brother." And out the blue fox went.

Vanilla approached Aqua and placed her hand on her lower abdomen. "You don't look too happy." she said.

"To explain it short, Tia pushed me, I hit the chair..." Aqua replied.

"What's with the floor?" asked Shade.

"I didn't notice the floor." said Amy.  
"Aqua was knocked down, but we caught her before she had a bad landing." Tikal answered.  
"Well, I guess that makes sense." said Vanilla. "Aqua, are you feeling okay?"

"No...I'm in agony..." Aqua replied.

"Of course you are, that fall induced you."

Upon hearing that said, the girls in the salon started to panic. "Now what'll we do?" asked Tikal.  
"We can't go outside, you already saw what's going down." Amy said.  
"Well, this is Aqua's choice." said Vanilla.

"Hiiieeeii...." Aqua said. "God damn you, Tia! You filthy bitch!" She cursed. "Kylia should let Kai kill that wench..." And Aqua sighed. "I should get to a hospital or something..."

So, Aqua's girls ran around in panic, sorting things out, also apologising to the customers and asking them to leave, after writing their names on some paper for free treatments as apology and cleared house, another phoned the hospital and everything began to calm down.

"Hey...Vanilla...why do you have Muri's baby?" Aqua questioned, as she tried to remain calm, much to her character.

"She asked me to take him when I visited her at the hospital today." Vanilla answered. "I was going to do something else upon leaving, then ran into Tia. At that moment, Muri and I filled out some paperwork, giving me custody over Kweli until things calmed down."  
An explosion was soon heard outside. "Lovely, it's pretty hot out here." said Shade. "Whatever enemies you have, they are outside the shop."  
"Great, more trouble." said Tikal.  
"I gotta go, the black and blue foxes are gonna need some help out here." and off Shade went.  
"Okay girls, exit out of the back." said Amy. "This isn't a drill."

So all the girls followed Amy's orders and allowed Aqua to be escorted first, one of them was brave enough to lock the front door and shut the place entirely.

"Man, if I get out of this one, I'm gonna need a drink." said Tikal.  
"Don't get cocky, we may have to help out in fights." said Amy.  
_If things get bad, I can always play doctor again._ thought Vanilla.

So, the girls made their way to the back door, and upon exiting, they were confronted with a very big wolf.  
"Well, well, well, looks like I get to take you back to Nazaruda, how fun, and some meals too, lovely fresh looking rabbit, and she's holding desert, how nice of her."  
"Ahh...crap...." Aqua sighed.

"You're free to eat." said Amy. "How about some iron for your diet, it's good for the blood!" and the pink hedgehog went in first, putting that wrecking hammer to work.

The wolf however caught the wrecking hammer without so much as pain and lifted Amy into the air. "Fresh Hedgehog for starters." And he lifted Amy over his head, mouth wide.

"I may be pink, but I'm not a little pig." Amy retorted.

"And I'm not the big bad wolf." The wolf laughed. "I'm your predator, and you're my starters." And he let Amy go to swallow her, however, something rushed passed the girls and slammed into his gut, knocking him off and through a building wall and Amy landed safely on her feet, then they heard a clank.  
"Thank god that you showed up, Rei." Aqua said.  
"Scanning target...." Rei replied.

"Mind telling me what's going on?"  
"Rexchus is attempting to get to Hiei through you." Rei replied. "By getting you and your cubs, they will have leverage over Hiei, forcing surrender."

"Aqua, talk to me." said Vanilla.

"I'm about to hit a contraction I think...." Aqua replied.

Amy readied her wrecking hammer. "Tikal, get everyone out of here." she said. "I'll stay here with my 'rescuer' and fend off big and hungry."

"Gotcha." And Tikal led the group off in the other direction as the wolf recovered from the wall.  
"No one disturbs my dinner!" He barked.

"Strength will not bring him down." Said Rei.

"Then we'll use cunning and disable him." said Amy.

"Can you keep a secret?" Rei looked behind and noticed the girls had gotten away.

"Might as well, since I'll be running what's left of the shop after this."

"Good, no one is to know about what you will see here today." And Rei gives Amy a round orb. "Throw this in his mouth when there's an opening."

"No biggy, I like vitamins too."

Rei then places its hand on the green orb contraption on the left of its chest and turned it. It was at this moment that Rei began to seemingly fall to pieces as metal began to break off and then open up. Out of the 'suit' popped a yellow wild cat, the only thing that remained was the green orb contraption on her chest.

"We have 3 minutes and then I die." Rei said to Amy. "Think you can get it in him before then?"

"Well, let's get down to business." Amy answered. And with that, Rei vanished, and then dust flew into the air as she'd moved insanely quickly towards Noretu, and smashed into him, before she spun around him a lot of times which succeeded in confusing him.  
"What the...so fast..." and he tried to grab her, but was failing. Amy charged in to join that battle.

Meanwhile, with the other girls. They had managed to get out of the area and were heading in the direction of the hospital; Aqua had only stopped once due to a contraction, thankfully.

"Well, looks like I won't be seeing you next class, huh?" asked Vanilla.

"Heh, I guess not...I feel bad though, means you have to deal with Shena alone..." Aqua laughed.

"Well mom, you're early and not dilating so much, but I do have good news to inform you later."

"Oh..?" Aqua questioned, as the girls continued moving

"Yes. I have a list of nice baby stuff for you and Hiei."

And Aqua giggled. "Well, that will be apprecia-..." And then another contraction hit.

"Great." and Vanilla placed her hand on Aqua's abdomen.  
"Vanilla, what's going on?" asked Tikal.  
"Just another contraction for mom here." Vanilla told Tikal.  
"Can you tell how much she's dilated?"  
Aqua's contraction died down. "Well mom, you're about halfway there."

"I'm not going to be unfortunate like Muri and not make it to the hospital, if you don't mind, so I am going to continue until we get there..." Aqua said, having recovered.

"Just make sure to breathe." advised Vanilla.

_This is bad..._ thought Tikal. _But if they're coming for Aqua, then...._

The girls continued to the hospital, only stopping for the usual "labour pains" from Aqua. Luckily, the hospital was only five blocks away. "Good, I can see the hospital." said Vanilla. "This'll be a long stretch, but we should be home free."

"Good..." Aqua replied.

"Let's get going." said Vanilla.

At this point, only three of Aqua's employees were with her, Tikal, and Vanilla who wore Kweli on a sling. One contraction was had by Aqua through all of this, and the girls hand managed to go three blocks. "It can't be this easy." Tikal said.  
"What are you mumbling about?" asked Vanilla.  
"We have a problem."  
All too true as the girls soon found out. As an energy wave halted the girls in their process of going the last two blocks. "Is there something we should know?" asked Vanilla.

"Well, well, well...Look what the cat dragged in..." Said a voice. "Sorry ladies, but your road ends here."

"Great, more problems." said Vanilla. From above, a grey fox with different shades of grey in his long hair appeared.

"Now, if you'll be so kind, give up Aqua and I'll take her from your hands now." He said.

"Get behind me." said Tikal.  
"Is this the so-called 'head of the club'?" asked Vanilla.

"Nazaruda...." Aqua uttered.

"So, this is the one that Tia was talking about." and Vanilla turned to Nazaruda. "You do realize I can handle things from here?"

"Is that so?" Nazaruda laughed. "I'll show some sympathy, go ahead and get the vermin out of her so I can take them off your hands. I'll wait."

Vanilla backed up and was now standing in front of Tikal, whom everyone was gathered near. "Your sympathy is greatly appreciated." said Vanilla. "But you won't be taking anyone here."

"And what, might I ask, will you do to stop me?"

"I don't plan on stopping you, but not even you can handle it."

"Is that so..?" Nazaruda grinned.

"You look thirsty, but there will be plenty to drink for you."

And Nazaruda laughed, then glared at Vanilla angrily. "You dare to mock me?!"

"No, but I know something can."

"Getting in my way will not bode well for you." Nazaruda said. "Last chance, back off and surrender Aqua." And Aqua hit another contraction at this point.

"Aqua, what do you have to say about giving Mr. Nazaruda your children?" asked Vanilla.

"Go to hell..." Aqua replied, during her contraction.

"That contraction sounds pretty close." said Tikal.

"Well, let her drop." And Nazaruda laughed manically. It was at this time someone jumped on his back, taking him off guard.  
"Move it!" Kirika yelled, trying to keep Nazaruda in place.

"Tikal..." said Vanilla.  
"Time to go." said Tikal.

At this moment, Vanilla, Tikal, Aqua and the girls vanished in a flash of light. When the light faded, all of them were gone, but Chaos was standing right there. Nazaruda then lifted off of the ground and grabbed Kirika by the head pulling her forward.  
"You've gotten in my way for the last time, Kirika." And with that, he stood and lifted her by the head before viciously pushing his hand through her stomach, before tossing her aside and looking at Chaos. Seeing what had just happened, Chaos extends its arms into the ground. Seconds later, a blast of water knocked Nazaruda high into the air. Soon after, a puddle formed around Kirika, which she soon fell into.

Nazaruda recovered in midair and looked to the ground. "This'll be fun..." And he began his descent, as he landed he leaped forth and smashed chaos in the head, causing him to splash into a puddle in the ground. The various drops that splattered all over the place soon gathered into a large puddle, and then Chaos formed its body again. Eyes only glancing and simply shook its finger at Nazaruda, clearly not impressed. Nazaruda folded his arms. "So they send a drip to fight, how pathetic." Chaos folds its arms and turns back into a puddle. Afterwards, the "drip of water" was gone. "Hm...A distraction..." Nazaruda said. "Amusing." In his mind, he was communicating with his allies. _Locke, you know what to do._ He thought.

Meanwhile, Rei was reassembling her metal and Amy polished her wrecking hammer. "Not bad, 'Iron Woman', you make good security." Amy said. And Rei quickly rebuilt herself.

"Charging heart system, rebooting main protocol..." She said. She then turned to face Noretu who was hung by his tail, his mouth smouldering as the 'bomb' had screwed up his insides, he wasn't dead but he wouldn't be bothering anyone for a long time. "Thanks, hammer girl, I've never met someone outside of the Shadow Clan or Rexchus who knows how to handle themselves so well."

"Well, let's go around the front and see what's happening."

"Affirmative." And the girls ran around to the front.

At the front, Tia was completely out and it appeared Seifa had joined in at some point, and the blue fox, Kylia, was out as well, Kai however was standing strong.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Amy.

"Just a plaything." Kai said.  
"I'm just following orders." Seifa replied to Kai, but he put his fists down. "You win. I'm outta here." and he walked off. Kai proceeded to walk over to Kylia and roll her onto her back and pick her up.

"Some man he is..." said Amy. "What a joke. So where's the black fox?"

"Hiei went off after Aqua, having noticed this was a complete distraction." Kai replied.

"Great." said Shade. "Knowing Tikal, she probably took Aqua to her home."  
"Which is bad, because Hiei won't be able to reach Tikal's place." said Amy.

"Mind explaining?" Kai asked.

"Tikal lives in a place not accessible by many people. I've only been there a couple of times... so unless Tikal or Chaos take you there, no entry."

"Eh..." Kai replied. "Hiei is well known for being able to break any kind of logic when he wants to get somewhere."

"Well we better find him soon." said Shade. "Aqua's in labour and probably close to delivery at this point."

"Excuse me for speaking out of line, but she's going to be pissed if she doesn't make it to a hospital." Rei said.

"If I know Tikal, Aqua isn't at a hospital." said Amy. "Come on Shade, we better go and find Hiei and fast."  
"Right." said Shade and the two girls went off.

Rei activated her jet booster on her back and took off to the roof of a building. "Scanning...." She said. "Hiei located. That direction." Rei said, pointing. She then took off in that direction.

"Follow her." said Amy.  
"Fine." said Shade. So they shoot off in the direction Rei points out, in hopes of catching Hiei.

Meanwhile, everyone was enjoying the sights of the Old Mystic Ruins as Vanilla and one of the three employees was helping Aqua get to the medical hut. "Well, your contractions are quite close, you should be ready to deliver soon." said Vanilla. Aqua doesn't reply with anything except a sigh.

"What should we do, miss?" A member of Aqua's staff asked.

"Ooh..." Tikal said with her hand on her head. "I shouldn't transport so many people here at once. I have strained myself in the process."  
"That means we'll be here for a while." said Vanilla. "Tikal won't be able to go back and get Hiei without rest. And it looks like I'll be delivering two more babies."

"How fortunate for you..." Aqua sighed.

"Vanilla, Aqua's concerned about her partner." said one of Aqua's workers.  
"Luckily, you aren't alone." said Vanilla.  
"The medical hut is thirty feet from you all." said Tikal. "The stage is yours from here on, Vanilla. I'll leave your midwife skills to assist Aqua."

The other two girls assist Tikal. "You're coming too." One of them said.  
"Yeah, didn't you say you were a bit bummed that you missed the last one?" The other said.

"Crowding her is bad and it will only stress Aqua." said Tikal.  
"Agreed." said Vanilla. "Come on, Aqua. Things will turn out okay."  
"There's a tub in there for aquatic birthing." said Tikal.  
"I think a water birth is better for you." said Vanilla. "What do you think?"

"I manipulate water..." Aqua said. "There isn't a more fitting place..."

"Chaos would love you."

"Well, my real name is Maisy, Aqua is a nickname for a reason." Aqua said.

Meanwhile with the search for Hiei, it appeared he was stood in the location Aqua was seen in last, and it wasn't long before Rei arrived to see him there.

"Hiei!" Rei called, Hiei turned his head, but said nothing. "Looks like we located you in time."  
"What do you want, Rei. I'm a little busy." Hiei snapped.

"Some girls know where Aqua is, and it is apparently very difficult to get there." Rei replied.  
"Well, where are these girls then?" Hiei asked.

Sounds could be heard, then Shade and Amy appear. "Next time, tell me when you decide to play Rocketman." said Amy.

"Apologies." Rei replied.  
"You. Tell me where Aqua is." Hiei ordered.

"Aside from being in labour, she with my friend Tikal... in the Old Mystic Ruins." Amy answered.

"And, how do I get there?" Hiei asked.

"I can assist with that." said Shade.  
"Wait, you can get to the Old Mystic Ruins?" asked Amy.  
"Of course. I can warp us there, that's the benefit of my people. But enough, 'Daddy Dearest' needs to be with 'Mommy Dearest' now. Whenever everyone is ready." Hiei walks over and folds his arms.

"A closed mouth from a stubborn man doesn't get to see his kids." said Shade. "You'll need happy thoughts to get there safely."

"Then I won't get there 'safely'. I'm hardly in the mood for your games." Hiei replied.

"Fine, don't believe. I will be able to forgive the part where you miss the birth of your kids. I'm not sure about your labouring wife though..."

Hiei grits his teeth in anger, but then relaxes. "Fine, I'll play along, but if for some reason this 'involves' something ridiculous like 'clicking my heels together', I will punch you." Hiei said and then began to 'visualise' happy thoughts, mainly the time his first born child came into the world, where he believes he was at his happiest.

"Tikal is the one that likes making people sing, not me. Hang on." Shade places her hand on Hiei's shoulder and Amy places her hand on Shade's shoulder. Rei even manages to grab a hold of Amy and the four warp off. In seconds everyone arrived at the Old Mystic Ruins. When they arrived, everyone was there, but Rei wasn't in her armour. "Hey, we made it." said Amy.

"Eepp!" Rei yelped. "Where did my armour go, I'll die without it." Hiei simply ignored her and looked around.

"Worry not friends, all is well here." up walks Tikal, still experiencing her headache. "Go this way." and Tikal points in the direction of the medical hut. "Aqua's pretty much delivering, so you better hurry up." And Hiei just warped, causing the air around where he was to rotate and blow harshly.

Fifteen minutes later, Hiei and Aqua were proudly holding their newborn cubs. Vanilla was smiling as she finished cleaning up. "Well, you two will certainly have your hands full with these girls." said Vanilla. "Though they were born early, both of them appear to be fine."

"That's good news." Aqua sighed in relief. "Tia will pay though."

"I'm more concerned about how I will deal with Nazaruda."

"I'll deal with him." Hiei said. "He's my enemy, not yours."

"Then you will help me free Irum?" Vanilla questioned Hiei.

"You would have to 'kill' her to free her." Hiei replied.

"Blasphemy. She's a girl with the mind of a small child. Killing her isn't needed."

"It's her or you, simply put." Hiei replied. "I remember, I wanted to talk to you." And Hiei supports one of his children in one arm and pulls a piece of paper from his pocket and passes it to Vanilla.

"What's on the paper?" Vanilla asks as she takes the paper with her free hand.

"Three possible locations on your foxes 'rapist'." Hiei replied. "I did not want to give them to her, for sake of 'old wounds'."

"Who is 'her'?"

"Tails." Hiei replied.

Vanilla was quiet for a while, then smiled. "Looks like my deed for delivering your daughters makes us even then?"

"Perhaps, I was going to give this to you anyway. I would have killed that bastard myself, but I figure revenge should remain within the boundaries of those affected, no?"

"I see. Now I can inform you of other things, Aqua."

"Oh?" Aqua questioned.

"I told you about having temporary custody of Muri's son Kweli here. But I've been in custody of Muri for some time now.

"Kirika and I made a few arrangements and I have documentation that allows me to be Muri's legal guardian if anything happens to Kirika. So she's been legally entrusted to me for quite some time."

"I see..." Aqua said. "So...where is she now..?"

"Hospitalized. I will retrieve her later, but she's under watch at this point. I also found out about what is going on."

"Go on."

"I thought Nazaruda had raped Muri, but I was wrong. As it turns out, she was unwillingly impregnated."

"That, and she was also raped." Hiei corrected.

"Apparently, the cause of Muri's impregnation was a liquefied chemical. One that can fertilize female eggs with chaos energy."

"You mean the same treatment that a certain young fox went through?"

"Exactly. From what I was informed of, I learned about a project called Chimera."

"Project Chimera, I'm well aware of that, in fact, my entire clan is well aware of that." Hiei said, looking at Vanilla.

"Then you're aware that it's turning would-be mothers into vessels for the breeding of chaos children."

"I know a lot more about it than you do, believe it or not."

"Then you can tell me how this works."

"I can tell you that the project was first created by my father after he discovered a Chaos Emerald. And my sister was the first subject of Project Chimera." Hiei said. "Shadow the Hedgehog is the sole example that my father expected to make, someone of his status. Another point of Chimera is to implement children until they became pure essences of Chaos energy, that they can use the super form with only 1 Chaos Emerald, or even none at all." Hiei explained. "Now, imagine someone who has the power to freely use a Chaos Super form and then imagine that my father planned to 'leave his body' and take over that child for immortality, and to destroy the world."

"Foetuses are pure energy. And Nazaruda will be after Aqua and these two girls. So this means your fight is over."

"And why is that?"

"You need to be with your wife."

"And you're going to need help, if you think that you can handle Irum alone."

"I already know how to deal with Irum, but if there's a codeword about her that you know of. Tell me."

"Do not show fear, even for the slightest moment. Once you do, your life will end before you even get a chance to know what's coming."

"By the way, you and Aqua need to do some healing."

"Huh?" Aqua questioned.

"I can tell by the way you hold your daughters that something is wrong with you two. You probably won't tell me, but you'll have to resolve things with each other."

"If you won't let me go with you, you'll need to find help. You won't be able to deal with Irum and Rexchus at the same time." Hiei said, ignoring the statement.

"I will hold my own against Irum. And as far as the Rexchus are concerned... I have help. Also, I am almost finished with my serum too."

"Serum?"

"Of course. One that you can thank Aqua for her assistance in developing. With that, I'll let you parents have a moment with your children." and Vanilla left the hut with Kweli.

Amy walked up to Vanilla and Kweli. "How is Tikal?" she asked.  
"Still has a headache and Shade already left." Amy answered.  
"So that means we're here for a while."  
"Pretty much."  
"Well, Hiei and Aqua are holding their six pound daughters, but at least the young are fine."

"So what will you do now?" Rei asked. "And how is it that I am not dead...I gotta get my armour back soon or I know I'll die..."

"Interesting, who is this?" asked Vanilla.  
"Remember that robot in Aqua's shop? Well, this is her." Amy explained.  
"Luckily for you, your body... which looks quite fit, is in no danger here."

Rei taps the green crystal like device on her chest. "This keeps me alive, but it needs the whole suit to function properly..."

"It's sad that you have to live your life on a battery." Vanilla told Rei. "But here, you don't have to worry. Let's get some rest, we can all use it."

"I was born with a weak heart, which exploded...so my father had his inventor create something which would 'revive' me as such, and this is the result...it had to be changed as i grew but...yeah, I'm living on borrowed time..." Rei said.

"Here, you can live without your power supply." said Tikal as she joined the girls. "You needn't worry about dying here."

"Oh, can I stay forever then?" Rei asked.

"That is your decision. I don't mind the company though, it would give me someone to enjoy telling stories to."

"I would have to leave for some things, but if i can move freely without my suit..." And Rei stopped herself. "I'd be living a lie..." and she sighed.

Amy walked around. "When you leave here, you will be wearing your suit." Tikal explained.

Rei walked over to Vanilla and Kweli. "So, this is an infant. Never really took the time to see one up close, I tended to just ignore them." She said.

"This is Kweli, Muri's son." Vanilla said.

"I over heard you will be going to get Muri's other side at some point." Rei said.

"I plan on claiming her."

"You'll need help with that."

"I can handle Irum."

"You don't know what she is."

It was at this time that Chaos appeared and Kirika's body was inside of its watery form. "Oh god, Kirika!" Vanilla cried.  
Chaos approached them and Tikal walked over to see Kirika's injuries. "She looks bad." she said.  
"Can you help her?" Vanilla asked.  
"I will try."

Rei ran over. "What happened?" She asked concerning.

"She's wounded... Badly to boot." Tikal answered.

"Anything I can do?"

"I'll need that orb."  
Chaos expelled Kirika from its body and Tikal went to work.

"Do you think you can save her?" Amy questioned.

"Let's cross your fingers and toes." Tikal said as she operated on Kirika.

It took a long time, but Tikal managed to get Kirika out of her critical state. Hiei had managed to come out at this time and noticed Kirika's frame. "Well, that's all I can do." Tikal said.

Hiei walked over. "Okay, Nazaruda is going to suffer for this one..." He said.

"If you can take me to him, I can get Irum out of there." said Vanilla. Hiei then took out a mobile, found his own number and gave the phone to Vanilla so she can see it. Vanilla wrote down the number and tucked it away in her pocket. "Kirika, can you hear me?" asked Tikal.

Hiei takes his phone back. "Call me when you're ready to go." Hiei said. Kirika remained unresponsive.

"It looks like I'll have to be a better mother from now on." said Vanilla.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"If anything should happen to Kirika, I have guardianship over Muri." Vanilla explained. "It's a shame that she hasn't come around. She won't get to hold her grandnephew."

"Only time can tell at this point." Hiei said.

"All too true." said Tikal. "Her injuries are quite severe... Eventually, she will die."

"Indeed..." Hiei said. "I have no ability in which I can use to help her and knowing Nazaruda, he's hit a very vital spot in the body, he clearly does not want her to recover."

"He's also waiting for Aqua too." Tikal turned to Hiei. "During all of those attacks, I came to a conclusion that things were all too easy. If Aqua is checked into the hospital, along with the litter, they will be prime targets."

"Indeed..." Hiei said. "I also had Muri removed from the hospital."

"Good." said Vanilla. "I'm sure Tia would come after her if she were still there."

"I'll have her handed over once we're out of this place."

"Speaking of out of this place, how are you feeling?" Vanilla asked Tikal.  
"Better, but not strong enough to leave." Tikal answered. "We're pretty much here for the day... and this is a bummer since I have a show tonight."

"Would giving you energy work?" Hiei asked.

"Not this time." Tikal answered. "I require 'normal' rest. But I do want to talk to you about Aqua and her... I mean, your daughters."  
"Well if you need me, I'll be taking a bath." said Vanilla. "These events have definitely done their fair share on my psyche." and off she went with Kweli.

"Is it safe for visitors?" asked Amy.

"I don't see why not." Hiei replied. "So, what do you need to discuss, Tikal?"

"Later, when my headache has fully subsided." said Tikal. "But for now, I will make some herbal tea."

"Fine." Hiei replied, and left back to the hut with Aqua, and Amy followed.

Tikal sighed. _Whatever is going on with Muri and Aqua, it seems everyone is linked in this madness._ Thought Tikal. _Vanilla, I hope you really know what you're doing. As for you, Hiei... Valour has its limits._


	26. Chapter 26

((We would just like to take this opportunity to apologize for the over mass of OC's within the story, at first they were meant to play only a minor part, but you know what happens when you get carried away in a story. Bare with it for a few more chapters, after a certain piece of plot has been covered, most of these characters will part and show up only for needs sake or amusement. A lot of the characters brought in were a necessity to help better bring out some of the more important elements due to bits and bobs I shall at this point not explain. After all's done, the only ones who should be making a real influence on the story after would likely be Muri and her son Kweli, but time will tell. As I say, just a few more chapters and I will try to cut back on OC's and get back to the reason you're reading this story. Plot is plot and this is needed, otherwise I got bugger all to go with except sex, babies and a few laughs, we all gotta remember that the events that lead up to Tails' pregnancy need to be realised and discovered, no point having such a major element if we don't explain it. Trying our best, but still, enough of my rambling, on with the show. Please don't give up on us. ^^))

Cream was in the park, sat on a bench and watching those around her. It wasn't long before a friendly face appeared with a certain black hedgehog.  
"Hey, Cream, what's up?" Sonic asked the young doe.

"The usual, nothing all that great." Cream answered.

"You look a little bummed out, or am I seeing things wrong?"

"Just wasting time."

"Why don'tcha go and visit Tails, she should be back at my place, chillin' out." Sonic suggested.

"Maybe another time. I think she needs to collect herself some more."

"She seemed fine to me." Sonic said.  
"Sonic, do you mind going over there for a moment." Shadow asked Sonic.  
"Huh? What for?"  
"I want to talk to Cream for a moment."  
"And why can't I stay?"  
"Because you're a jabber mouth and I don't want you listening."  
"Sheesh, fine." And Sonic boomed too a good distance.

"How's your progress?" Cream asked, cracking her knuckles.

"I've not had the chance to really progress since the last date, if that's what you mean. G.U.N and Rouge have been keeping me quite busy with medial ridiculous tasks. But I have some extra time for a short while." Shadow replied.

"Well, make sure you wait before going off again. A lot has happened and you know who still hasn't sponged everything up yet."

"I only wanted some information. Do you happen to know what Tails favourite types of meals are?" Shadow asked.

"Nope." Cream answered. "Even if there were favourites, odds are they won't settle well."

"Hm...that doesn't help me much." Shadow said, more to himself than anything else. "Did something happen between you two, just wondering."

"Not us, but her friend..."

"Want to talk about it?"

"You know about her Lamaze classes, right?"

"Like I said, I've been kept busy." Shadow replied.

"Last class, her friend gave birth in front of everyone."

"I see, so that's why you say Tails might be a bit edgy, how is the girl who dropped though?"

"Probably still in the hospital. She gave birth to a boy and Mom went to check in on her, but that's all I know."

"I see. Well, perhaps I should see how Tails is doing." Shadow replied. "If i think of anything else I might need, i'll come and find you."

"Now really isn't a good time for that."

"What's wrong with a friendly visit?"

"Never mind, just go on and visit her." With that, Shadow walks off and Sonic booms back over.  
"What was all that about?" He asked.

"He's worried." Cream answered.

"Shadow being out of character kinda scares me, but it's nice to see him caring for a change." Sonic said. "Wanna get some chillidogs?"

"Fine."

"Hey, they might help." Sonic said. "I always get chilidogs whenever I'm down."

"Lead the way."

So, Sonic and Cream head off for Chilidogs.

Meanwhile, back with Tails and her little guest, things had seemingly settled a bit, Tails did have to call Knuckles a few times for more information on things and learned she really wasn't ready for children yet, so she was doing her best to learn and keep Kneecaps happy at the same time. They were currently in the living area, and Tails was keeping a close eye on Kneecaps. _This is a lot harder than people would first think, simply by observing..._ She thought.

"At least he is settled for now..." And Tails flips on the television, she was only at an eyeball flick away from checking on Kneecaps who was happily sat on the floor playing with toys. Tails couldn't find anything to watch on the television, but continued to flick through.

"Welcome to the next dimension." a commercial caught Tails' attention. "100 new cards including new forms of famous monsters like Stardust Dragon. Bring on the powers of Assault Mode and claim the fame, 'King of Games'. Yu-gi-oh 5D's Crimson Crisis. Booster packs available now."

"Yugioh....still as ever trying to get people into the franchise, it's not that popular is it? Oh well..." Tails decided to keep on this channel. "I'm so bored..." She sighed.

"And now we return to Homicide on Sesame Street. Brought to you by the numbers 1, 8 and 7."

"But am I _this_ bored..." Tails asked herself, before changing the channel.

"Ladies, have you ever wondered how you can make a lot of money fast and easy without having to leave your home?" an infomercial began.

"This should be entertaining..." Tails thought.

"Well, with what you can learn from my book you can. Heck, you won't even have to leave the comfort of your own bedroom. All of the steps are provided in my new book 'I Wanna be a Ho'."

And Tails lifts an eyebrow. "They're letting this on the television?" She asked herself and switched the channel. "Some people..."

"It's time for The Happy Colours Show." the TV said, then it went into song. "We have red, blue, and purple too, be a green fellow, or just mellow yellow. O, O, O... it's the Happy... happy... Hap-py Colours Show!" and the singing came to an end.

"Oh to hell with it..." And Tails sighed. "Are there no decent programs on anymore?" And off the television went. Kneecaps started to cry. Tails looked at Kneecaps and then turned the television back on to see the reaction. Once the TV returned to the show, Kneecaps stopped crying and enjoyed watching TV. He even started clapping.

"Well, okay, I guess so long as he is happy." Tails sigh.

"Okay everyone, it's time for... Rainbooooooow Maniiiiiiaaaaa!" the announcer for the show said. Suddenly, funky music started to play and the screen began to flash many different colours.

"Whoa..." Tails said. "These people are bad, that can give people seizures..."

"Pppppppppppppppp." was the reaction from Kneecaps.

Tails walked over to check on Kneecaps and sat on her knees next to him, but she made sure to move him further away from the television.

"Dumb programs..." Tails muttered.

"Pppppppppppppppppppp." was all that left Kneecaps, followed by his mouth beginning to foam up.

"Oh, crap..." And Tails took a nearby toy and threw it at the television 'on' switch and turned it off, before she went to sort out Kneecaps.

Tails had no idea what to do, so she placed her hand under his head as a temporary cushion and reached hard for a cushion from the sofa, which she got and used it to pillow Kneecaps head, she then grabbed the phone and called Knuckles, keeping an eye on Kneecaps as she does so.

"Hello? How may I help you?" asked Knuckles.

"Yeah, what do I do when Kneecaps starts acting off and foaming at the mouth?" Tails asked, voice semi-panicked.

"You mean he's having a seizure?!"

"Yes, I cushioned his head, but I don't know what to do..." And this time Tails was really panicking.

"In the bag, there are some syringes with a purple serum. Find a vein and inject it into his bloodstream."

So Tails took the phone over to the bag and quickly went through it, throwing the stuff inside out in a panic, looking for said syringes, she finds a box with the syringes in and calms down a bit, she opens the box, takes the syringe and does as Knuckles told her to do, being careful about it.

"Any changes?" asked Knuckles over the phone.

"Not yet..." Tails replied, as she finished with the syringe.

"How long has it been since he started seizing?"

"Give or take a minute or so now..."

"Is he flailing around?"

"No..." Tails replied.

"Okay, that's good. Place a blanket over him so he doesn't go into shock. About up to his elbows and let me know if any changes occur."

"Yeah...okay..." And Tails looks around and finds a blanket, she'd thrown it out the bag in her panic. She made sure Kneecaps was covered properly and sighed, sitting on her backside.

"Nothing changing yet..."

"Have you wiped his mouth yet?"

"No, i'll do that now..." And Tails grabbed a box of baby tissue and took a peice, carefully cleaning off the mess on Kneecaps, and checked he was still okay. "Okay, that's done..." She said to Knuckles.

"Check his pulse and breathing."

Tails carefully checked Kneecaps pulse. "He's breathing okay..." She said, then found his pulse. "Pulse is racing a bit, but it's slowing i think..."

"Good. Now what happened to cause him to seize like that?"

"Some program on the television, which i plan to sue..." Tails replied. "I'll look it up in the TV guide, but it was the 'rainbow mania' that did it..."

"Um, you did sit him up and stop the bleeding, right?"

Tails does so quickly, dropping the phone to the floor, but it's quickly sorted out. After about a minute of another panic from Tails, she picks the phone up. "You gotta tell me these things sooner, Knucklehead..." She sighed. "I should think of them myself, but I'm worked up here, you know?"

"There aren't instructions that come to parenthood, kid. You have to think stuff up on the fly." Knuckles said in a semi-scolding tone. "As far as that Happy Colors bullshit, I'll see to them after I finish doing Tikal's show tonight."

"I blame you, Knucklehead." Tails said. "You're the one who left him with me in the first place. But what does it matter, I feel really sick now..." And she sighed.

"You can blame me all you want, but you won't have anyone to blame when it's your daughter. Besides, I don't think that stupid class you're going to will give a more hands-on exercise with raising kids than this."

Knuckles sighed. "Listen, parenthood is going to be challenging and you won't have all the right answers. You'll feel guilt sick often, just like you are now." Knuckles would've continued, by he soon heard the sound of his brother crying.

"So now what?" Tails asked.

"Just give him some juice from the bag, carry him around the house to calm him, change it to a safer TV show and try to relax." Knuckles answered. "You saved his life thanks to your quick thinking. But then again, thinking was always your stronger suit... aside from tinkering with things in the lab."

"No more television, I'm going to find a normal thing to show him, like a cartoon DVD that's you know...trusting?" Tails replied. "If you'll excuse me for a moment," and she put the phone down momentarily, before she crawled over to Kneecaps and stroked his head a little. "Hey, there, there, calm down for aunty Tails, okay?" And she picked him up carefully, and gave him a cuddle, standing up, she walked over to the last place she put his juice bottle, luckily there was still plenty in it and she gave it to Kneecaps, waiting for him to take it from her. Kneecaps grabs the juice and starts drinking.

Tails then walked back over to the phone and picked it up, placing it on her ear with her free hand and she walked around. "I'll probably thank you for all this later Knuckles, but for now, I'll just continue to shun you for it." She said.

"Uh huh." said Knuckles. "Someone has to bust you like this."

"Hey, Kneecaps, wanna talk to Big Brother Knuckles, hmm?" Tails asked Kneecaps, placing the phone closer to him so he can hear Knuckles voice. "I'm sure Knuckles would love that, wouldn't you Knuckles?" And Tails giggled.

"KM, try not to raise too much more hell." Knuckles said to his brother through the phone. "As for you, foxgirl, stick to The Learning Channel."

"Good luck with Tikal's show, don't break too many heads." Tails replied.

"I may have to, I'm also security... remember?"

"I said **try** not don't." And Tails giggled.

"Yeah yeah. I'll catch you later."

And the line disconnects and Tails presses the red button, before throwing it down on the sofa. She continued to walk around with Kneecaps, and finally took a seat with him still in her arms, him still drinking.

Knuckles puts away his cell phone, shaking his head. "What's going on?" asked Rouge.  
"KM had a seizure while with Tails." Knuckles answered.  
"Was it serious?"  
"Not really. Thanks to Tails' quick thinking, she managed to save him without going into full panic."  
"Really now..."  
"Yeah, she'll be fine as a mom."

It was another 10 minutes and Kneecaps was at rest on the Sofa, Tails was sat next to him, just to make sure he didn't roll off in his sleep. "I'm not ready for this..." She sighed.

Tails picks up the television magazine and flicks through it. "Now, where is that program." She asked herself. "Aha, there it is." And she circled it. "Prepare to fall you despicable program." She said, then turn the television on, it was on noiseless white fuzz, she turned it way down before changing over to a program.

She turned over to the news.

"And as we look at the forecast for the next five days, the skies will be sunny all day long. with a temperature of a lovely 76 degrees. Back to you, Jim." said the weather girl.  
"Good weather and I'll be stuck inside..." And Tails sighed.

"In other events, Honey the Cat has launched a new clothing line said to hit store next week. Rumors are that she will be bringing young upcoming mother Miley Inari as a guest announcer, but that rumour has yet to be cleared."  
"You know, I really wish they would leave that poor girl alone." said Susan, the other anchor. "It's bad enough this girl has been the attention of the media through various hoaxes."

"Tell me about it...." Tails sighed.

"Well, we've recently come across a source revealing naughty images of this girl posted all over the internet. NetPatrol had found the culprit. They have been arrested, but the names have yet to be released."

"Honestly, some people." Tails said.

"Also, next month is the annual G.U.N. Day, honoring the services of the brave G.U.N. soldiers that saved the world from the invasion of the alien race known as the Black Arms." Jim continued.  
"I never go to those parades." said Susan. "The real heroes never get any credit for that. Everyone thinks G.U.N. saved everyone, but eyewitness reports say the hero is none other than Shadow the Hedgehog. Yet, he never got a medal of honour from it."

"Not that he'd want one." Tails giggled. "Still, everyone should be more grateful to him, it was him alone who saved everyone...even me." Tails shifted slightly and looked at Kneecaps for a bit, him still peaceful. "I wonder if anyone ever did thank him properly..."

Suddenly, three raps came to the door. Tails then carefully stood up and stretched, she looked at Kneecaps and then grabbed a large pillow and placed it as a temporary support to stop him rolling off the chair, before she headed to the door and opened it.

Once the door opened, Tails soon saw Shadow. "You look tired." he said.

"Oh...Shadow." She blushed a bit. "Um...I'm a bit stressed, come on in, I need to check that Kneecaps doesn't roll off the chair." And Tails headed back in and made sure Kneecaps was okay, luckily he was still on the chair.

Shadow walks inside. "Got stuck with a brat, what a shame." and Shadow shrugged.

"Knuckles decided to 'drop him off'." Tails said. "And so far he's managed to pull the kitchen on top of himself, fall off the couch, nearly destroy the DVD player, make a massive mess in the living room and had a seizure..." Tails sighed. "But I'm glad you're here, I can do with the company..."

"Parenting blues... but you need them."

"I guess. So how have you been?" Tails asked. "You were just mentioned on the news for saving the planet."

"Reporters..." Shadow balled his fist.

"Now now, none of that, it's not like anyone's going to bother you about it, what with them all in love with G.U.N and all." Tails replied.

"What really boils my water is that douchebag with the photoshopped pics of you nude."

Tails turned to Shadow. "Excuse me?"

"Sorry, wrong words in front of the kids."

"He's asleep, so it's fine." Tails said. "But you said photoshopped, which I assumed is edited, i used to wear nothing, if you recall and i had managed to make myself appear to be a perfect boy."

"Horny bastards..."

Tails looked slightly worried. "What kind of pictures..?"

"You nude, nude, nude, posing in suggestive ways. It was on the news." And Tails fell over.

Shadow took Tails up. "Weren't you told about that?"

"How on earth could anyone get those types of pictures...." Tails asked.

"Rule 34?"

"Huh?" And Tails was on her feet, but Shadow still had a hold of her.

"Never heard of Rule 34?"

"I gotta remove that stuff....." Tails said. "I'm curious as to how you know about it though, Shadow. Been looking on the net for dirty pictures of me, huh?" She grinned at him.

"No, the recording of you and Marine was enough for me." Shadow answered. And Tails froze. "Now that we're done busting each other's chops, tell me about what went on in your Lamaze class."

Tails narrowed her eyes. "So you were messing with me? Shame on you."

"You were messing with me, shame on you."

And Tails walked away from Shadow. "No I wasn't, you were mentioned on the news. But fine, whatever..." And looks his way. "And what have you heard about my lamaze class?"

"Cream said your friend had her baby in class... And the event is still tolling on you."

"Well, it was frightening because I have that to come. I feel really bad for Muri because Vanilla used her to 'teach' the rest of the class..." Tails said.

"So tell me what you learned."

"Birth is going to hurt..." Tails replied.

"Birth doesn't have to hurt." Shadow advised Tails.

"It was still scary." Tails said."I should get Kneecaps a better place to sleep."

"Go ahead, I'll be right here." and Shadow sat on a chair and crossed his legs.

Tails then walked over to Kneecaps and was very, **very** careful in picking him up, not disturbing his sleep, she cradled him and walked him into her room, before she put him to rest in her bed, using extra pillows and soft objects to form a sort of small wall, to avoid risk of him falling out of the bed, luckily, her bed was up against the walls in a corner, so she only needed to safely cover one side. She then carefully left him be and walked out of the room, but left the door open encase something happened.  
"All done." She said, before taking a seat on the couch, next to Shadow.

"So I take it the little guys running you ragged?" asked Shadow.

"I got him for two days and he's already got me exhausted..." Tails sighed. "I've only had him a little while too..."

"But it's good practice."

"That's true." Tails said. She then grinned at Shadow. "Hey, you mentioned you wanted to father Lavender, so perhaps _you_ should practice too." She then giggled.

"I've already practiced with kids."

Tails blinked. "I find that hard to believe. But then again, recently you've been doing a lot of things people don't expect, so I guess it's to be expected now." She smiled.

"Uh huh."

"Aww, don't be like that..."

"What, not happy with babysitting?"

"I don't mind babysitting when I'm at least allowed to prepare for it. What ticks me off is Knuckles just came over, dumped Kneecaps on me and buggered off..." Tails said. "And don't bother giving some 'babies are unexpected' crap, because woman 'do' get to prepare for babies, isn't that why they have maturnity leave and lamaze classes and stuff?"

"Maternity leave is so women don't birth at work. In the old days, women worked all the way until they went into labor. But then again, after having kids, moms weren't going to work amymore."

"Uh huh. Anyway, let's talk about something else." Tails replied.

"Like what?" and Shadow crossed his legs the other way.

"I dunno, what have you been up to since we went to Twinkle Park?" Tails asked, making small talk.

"Busy with errands and other romps that waste my time."

Tails smiled coyly. "Is there something that you'd rather be doing with your time?"

"Aside from solitary time, you mean?"

"Still would rather be alone, huh?"

"If I would rather be alone, I would still be a hard case."

"So, why the solitary time?" Tails asked. "Or am I a part of that now?"

"Gives me time to think." Shadow then took a breath. "I came over to check up on you, seeing if you were doing well."

"Well, other than 'baby blues', I'm great. I'm glad you came though." Tails smiled happily.

Shadow put his hand on Lavender. "In about one month's time, you will have to raise this one. And a newborn takes much more energy to raise than an infant like that one does. Midnight feedings, changing pampers, not enough 'me time' because of your budding family, it'll be rough for you."

Tails blushed ever so slightly, looking down on her bump. "Yeah...But, I'm going to have everyone's support and love, so it's okay. It'll be hard, but people will still be here to help me."

"All true. And at least you have an actual sense of what your body will go through when the moment of birth arrives."

"I just hope I'm more prepared for it." Tails looked up at Shadow. "You said solitude gives you time to think, but I wonder, what about?"

"The past, the present, you, and then the stuff I choose not to say."

"Me, huh?" Tails tilted her head. "That makes me happy."

"You will have more happy moments."

"Oohh, how exciting." Tails giggled. "You know, I've been having a little bit of a problem recently."

"Weight?"

"That's expected due to my little girl, but no." And Tails prodded her chest. "I think I might need to go up a size here."

"That's bad?"

"Well, yes when my bra begins to squeeze, even these maternity bras have their limits, and it pinches my chest." Tails said.

"Should I leave the room?"

"Why would you want to do that?" Tails asked.

"Nevermind."

"No, no. I'm curious."

"I thought you needed a moment."

"How close have you come to my bosom, answer me that?" Tails grinned.

"Not."

"And...how close would you like to get?"

"I'm not Marine if that's what you mean."

"That doesn't answer my question. Marine made her intentions quite clear, so what about you?"

"If you want me fondling you, just say so."

"Do you want to?"

"Your choice, I have no use for mamms."

Tails frowns. _The best tease is through the tits, she says...So much for that idea._ "Oh well."

"Well, I better let you go since you're tired. Maybe I can catch you after you return an echidna's brother."

Now Tails pouts. "Bored of me already? I'm not tired enough to sleep..."

"Bored of you, where did this come from?"

"You're the one who wants to leave." Tails folds her arms and looks ahead.

"Fine, I'll stay and watch TV."

"If you like. Are you hungry?"

"Not so much, but I can take a sammich."

"Uh...Sandwich?"

"Yeah, a sammich."

"Wherever you picked that up, go and punch someone for it, it sounds weird." Tails said, standing up.

"Then what would you call a sammich?"

"Sandwich..." Tails replied. "You know...the original term..."

"Well, there are many names for a sammich. Though I don't know why some people call it a hero."

"I see..." Tails sweat dropped. "Never mind." And she walks off to the kitchen. Shadow shook his head and took the remote and on came the tube.

"What kind of 'hero' would you like?" Tails asked from the kitchen.

"Anti." Shadow answered.

"Marmite then..."

"What is marmite?"

"You don't know what Marmite is? You know, 'either you love it or you hate it.' It's a disgusting formula that some like and some do not." Tails explained, coming back in the room.

"I'll have turkey and salami, on white bread with mayo on both breads and a slice of tomato."

"Anything to drink?"

"Milk."

Tails grinned. "Cold or fresh?"

"Homogenized."

"Okay."

And Tails goes back and prepares up the food, about 6 minutes and she walks out with the food, handing Shadow the food and milk.

Shadow looked at his glass of milk. "So, is this Vitamin D?" he asked.

"Uh huh..." Tails said. At this point, she slid her hands under her top and lifted it over her head and neatly folded it and placed it on the arm of the chair, retaking her seat.

_Uh huh..._ Shadow thought. And then the bra came off as well.

_If he doesn't care about breasts, he shouldn't mind me doing this at all._ Tails thought.

Shadow just ate his sandwich. "Yeah, you need a moment." he said.

"Are you uncomfortable?"

"Yeah, I'm fine... you're a bit leaky though."

Tails looks at herself. "Happens." She said. "Wouldn't want to help me out, would you?"

"I'm not sure how to milk a fox." Shadow said coyly.

"Two ways, but the pumps are in another room." Tails giggled.

"Okay..."

_I wonder if it's working. _Tails thought. _You might think you're able to resist this, Shaddy-boy, but you'll falter eventually._ Tails simply giggled a little more.

"So what else are you up to?" asked Shadow.

"Well, I did want to spend some time in the sun, but Knuckles ruined that." Tails replied. She grabbed the nearby box of baby tissues and used one to clean her chest up, before discarding it.

"Topless sunbathing... that'll give the media more to enjoy."

"Miley Inari, remember, Daichi?" Tails giggled.

"Fine, you can exhibit indoors as much as you want."

And Tails leaned on Shadow a little bit. "So, what's on the tube? Anything interesting?"

"No, not yet." and Shadow places his arm around Tails.

_Cosy..._ Tails thought. She then rested her head on his shoulder and yawned. "Shame..." She said. "Oh well, company is good." With this said and done, the two continued to watch the tube. However, over time, Tails gradually fell asleep on Shadow's shoulder.

Time passed and eventually, Tails came too again, waking up with a yawn.

"Enjoy your nap?" asked Shadow.

"It was comfy." And Tails snuggled a little. "And still is. At least I can relax."

"Yup."

"You don't mind me doing this, do you?"

"It's not bothering me."

"Good." And Tails lifted her hand to touch Shadows on her shoulder, rubbing it a little with her thumb. She then moved Shadow's hand down to her breast, placing it so that it was perfectly cupped.

"Honk." Shadow said out of the blue.

Tails simply looked up at him. "Huh?"

"What?" Shadow looked oblivious.

"Honk?"

"Yeah, honk."

"Cute..."

"Takes one to know one."

_Was that just a bad attempt at a flirt or...._ So Tails simply smiled, but didn't reply.

_-1 for you._ Shadow thought

_This isn't working..._ Tails thought. _I wonder if he's lost interest..._

"Anything you wanna watch?" asked Shadow.

"There's nothing on the tube, I checked over earlier." Tails replied.

"Well, I guess that means pop in a video."

"That involves getting up and I'm comfy though." Tails giggled.

"Aw..."

"Well, if you want to watch a video, they are over there." And Tails pointed out the videos and DVDs in a nearby cubboard, and 'freed' Shadow by stop leaning on him, resulting in his hands being his own again.

Shadow got up and looked at the flicks in the shelf. "So much porn..." Shadow joked. "Wow, you have some that Rouge has."

"That's Sonics..." Tails replied.

"So you don't have porn?"

"Does everyone _have_ to have porn? Seriously...Porn is not the begining and end of the universe you know..." Tails sighed.

"No, porn made the universe. Anyway, you people need to stop getting similar flicks. Where are your other movies?"

"All there, look beyond the porn and you'll see others."

"Next time, have that faker separate regular and x-rated movies."

"I thought you got over the whole 'faker' deal..." Tails replied. "Usually it's an insult of his intelligence."

"Well, Sonic has more brains in his feet than in his head." and Shadow chuckled.

"Ain't that the truth." Tails replied. "Find anything?"

"Nothing interesting." Shadow answered. "Got anything interesting where stuff blows up?"

"WAR works for that, bottom shelf, 6th DVD from the right."

Shadow grabs WAR from the shelf and walks over to the DVD player. He then pops in the DVD, returns to Tails and the DVD enters the main menu. "Ready to play?"

"Yeah." Tails replied.

"Let's play." and Shadow hit the play button, starting the DVD.

Ten minutes into the movie, Shadow decides to make a move. With that, he places his arm around Tails again. Tails leaned on Shadow, but didn't place her head on his shoulder this time. Shadow began moving his hand closer to the fox, but this was soon interrupted by Kneecaps' sudden crying. _Damn it._ Shadow thought and removed his arm from around Tails.

_Bound to happen..._ Tails thought, she stood up and dusted her bum before heading into her room to Kneecaps.

She walks over to Kneecaps and strokes him on the head and picks him up. "What's the matter, little guy?" She asked Kneecaps. Kneecaps continued to cry, tears falling from his cheeks as his eyes rivered them.

"Are you hungry?" Tails took him out of the room, trying to get him to calm down. Crying was Kneecaps' only response. Tails then went to the bag and took it. "I'll be back in a moment Shadow." She said, she then went into another room and gave Kneecaps a nappy change, to her dismay, but she put up with it, cleaned the kid up and disposed of the used nappy. Afterwards, she took Kneecaps into the kitchen and kept him in one arm as she prepared him some juice, and gave it to him. Kneecaps took his juice and started sipping it. In a few moments, Kneecaps fell asleep, no longer drinking. So, Tails returned him to her room and rested him up once more. She went into the bathroom and washed up a little and sighed, before returning to sit next to Shadow.

"I think I should go." Shadow said.

Tails frowned. "If you must..." She said. "I won't stop you if you don't want to stay."

"I'll make it up to you, promise." and Shadow teleports away. And Tails sighs, turning off the film and spreading out on the couch. _Knuckles will pay for this..._ She thought.

_That really ruined the mood._ Shadow thought. _Oh well, maybe I should try again next time._

Meanwhile, Tikal managed to catch up with Hiei. "So, are you ready for that talk?" she asked.

"Shoot." Hiei replied, he was sat outside Aqua's hut, arms folded and legs crossed, his eyes closed, almost like in meditation. Clearly his daughters were with Aqua and Amy, who was still visiting.

"I can always come back."

"I'm currently watching the real world." Hiei opened his eyes. "That black hedgehog...Shadow...needs to do more work if he wants anything to do with the fox. But enough of that, take a seat, it's not like I am busy."

"Eavesdropping on the relations of everyone else, but unaware of your own..."

"I wanted to check on her to make sure she was okay, there were some interesting complications, but go ahead and do the same." Hiei replied.

Tikal sat next to Hiei. "So, are you mad at Aqua?"

"Why would I be mad at her?"

"Aqua thinks you're mad at her for some reason. Her delivering early may have been because of some broad, but an early arrival was slated for your daughters."

"I'm not mad at her, I've no reason to be." And Hiei closed his eyes again.

"Do you know she feels unhappy with you?"

"I choose not to read her mind."

"Then talk to her, she is your wife. Right?"

"I'm not forcing her to stay with me if she's unhappy." Hiei looked at Tikal. "Why exactly do you think she's unhappy with me, hm?"

"We talked earlier. What's your profession, by the way?"

"That's not your concern."

"I will remind you that I run a talk show. And seeing you two on that show wouldn't shock me. There have been many couples with problems that have come for my advice."

"I didn't come for your advice; you came to me assuming there's a problem." Hiei said. "I'm a freelancer; I do what I must for profit."

"Point taken. I'll leave you to your thoughts then, enjoy." and Tikal stood up then headed to her hut.

_Do not think you know me, girl..._ Hiei thought.

_I only know what I am told and what I see._ Tikal's thoughts entered Hiei's mind. _But hey, you're the better half, so have fun._

_You're not the only telepath here, you know. _Hiei replied in thought. _You're telling me that I have problems, when you plan to seduce a certain hedgehog to betray a close friend._

_Some mind reader you are. You missed something... Now I plan on thinking of my favourite musical number from Wall-E. Feel free to probe my mental singing, you would probably make a good chorus leader._

_Teaching someone by forcing them to watch a friend fuck ones love interest....yes, that's not betrayal at all, is it. You're heart may be in it, but your intentions are pretty poor. _And Hiei left Tikal to her Wall-E thoughts.

Amy and Aqua meanwhile were having fun cooing at the babies.  
"Looks like I got my wish after all." Aqua said.

"You mean for healthy babies?" asked Amy.

"Well, that and I finally got to see them. And I'm not disappointed." Aqua smiled.

"I'm happy for you. You're lucky; I probably won't have kids of my own..."

"That's not true. Even if it's not Sonic, you'll find someone eventually." Aqua replied.

"It seems I have stopped ovulating."

"Oh...Perhaps you should get it checked out?"

"I'm not ovulating and I haven't had my meeting with Flo. The doctors say it's early menopause, except without the hot flashes."

"Hmm..." Aqua thought. "Well...If it gets too concerning, I know a good 'witch doctor' who might be able to conjure up some hocus pocus and see if that helps."

"Voodoo isn't my best friend." Amy sighed. "My tarot cards aren't giving me any clear signs either."

"Have you purified them?" Aqua asked.

"Often. But all I get is 'The Fool' reversed, 'Strength' and 'The Hanged Man'. Not good cards for romance... except for Strength. But that got me into trouble from last time."

"Well, would you like me to use my own cards sometime?" Aqua asked.

"I'll pass. Tarot can only help me so much... the rest is all my doing."

"That it is, and Tarot is a dangerous monster to mess with."

"Not worse than Ouijia, but powerful nonetheless." and Amy sighed. "I'm gonna go for a walk now, rest up well."

"Come back soon." Aqua replied. Amy left Aqua's hut and headed to the one where she usually resides when here with Tikal.


	27. Chapter 27

((A/N's: Okay, just so you know, this is just my decision (Tsuikai) at this time, but I'm gonna set up an FAQ thing for any questions you may have for things within this story. Ask characters questions, and characters will reply according to their behaviours etc etc, it'll be fun. Send me PM's rather than asking in reviews (Though still give reviews, we love em) and hopefully, unanswered questions will be made clear. Can't make promises though ^^. ))

It was a new day dawning, and Aqua was up and about, though her girls were asleep in the hut. She was sat by a pond of some sort, the water was moving irregularly though.

"Morning, how's the new mom?" Tikal asked and sat next to Aqua. The water bounced a bit, before it spiralled and then separated, the base of the pond being visible. Then it clashed together and formed a small figurine, shaped like Aqua if she was in a leotard, then it fell back into the water and it calmed.  
"Just playing about at the moment." Aqua replied. "I'm happy though."

"So, have you two figured out names yet?"

"We haven't spoken yet." Aqua replied. "He needs his time."

"Time. What time?"

"Adaption time."

"So he wasn't prepared for fatherhood, or unprepared for your early delivery?"

"No...it's a little more complicated than that. He's been hesitant ever since I first proposed children." Aqua said, looking at the water. "It was hard enough just to conceive, so I understand his recent behaviour."

"Not enough foliate in the tank?"

"What do you mean?"

"Foliate is a vitamin that regulates virility."

"Uh...excuse me if being sleepy makes my brain hurt with such large complicated words..." Aqua sweat dropped.

"Foliate is only seven letters."

"It still falls into the category 'complicated', but enough of this." Aqua said. "You see...Hiei had a family once..."

"_So he has no fertility problems..._ Go on."

"Nazaruda and his group killed Hiei's former fiancé and daughter...so...you can understand his hesitation with me and my girls...right?" Aqua asked. "He is how he is, because he let his guard down before and Nazaruda killed the family he was forming...he isn't going to make the same mistake with me until he knows we're safe..."

"Go on."

"There's nothing else to say. But I know you wanted to know why we are like we are...so there's your explanation. Don't judge him for hiding his feelings. He's not going to let his guard down whilst his enemies breathe."

"And the reason why you haven't named your daughters is..."

"It's not something I need to do yet, they may be the only daughters I'll ever have, and I would like to choose their names wisely, it's not like I can pick and change it whenever I choose." Aqua kicked the water a little. "So...I know I'm just prying, but are you going to tell me about the man you're interested in? You seem keen enough of my life to allow me a little look into yours, don't you think?"

"I'm dating a guy who is really strong and caring, is a bit to himself. Always in thought and training, but is way too serious about things. I guess he's almost similar to your husband."

"Would that be Knuckles the Echidna?"

"Please. He's too gullible and full of himself."

"Just a guess." Aqua giggled. "It's the only one of the 'freedom fighters' I know of that is an echidna, so you can understand my guess."

"Mind if I join in the chat?" Rei walked up. Aqua looked at her oddly. "Yes, Aqua...I'm Rei...the same machine."  
"Okay, now I am totally lost."  
"Long story."

"Not really." said Tikal.

"Still, whatcha talkin' about?"

"The kind of men we want."

"Oh...I should leave then, it's not really a topic I can join." Rei frowned sadly.

"I can't enjoy the physical pleasures of love either." Tikal said with a sad expression.

"Huh? You can't?" Aqua asked.

"It's too painful."

"Hm...Well, the first time always hurts, unless there's something else?"

"There is."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"I've been alive for thousands of years without a man or sexual activity. Because of that, things are painful there for me. Tampons are painful, forceps are painful, using dildos to masturbate is painful..."

"So, it hurts to 'open', I see."

"Opening doesn't hurt. If it did, pissing would be painful."

"Well, perhaps I can help." Aqua said. "In exchange for saving me earlier."

"And what could you do for me?"

And Aqua lifted her hand, the pond responded by gathering and lifting into a tower and as Aqua motioned, so does the water. "I could try using the water, only thing I can think of that might work, but it's a big guess."

"I've tried that, and even Chaos is too painful."

Aqua let the water die down. "Oh...Then I'll ask around, I know a few people with their own ways of dealing with things, who each owe me a favour."

"Only masturbating can cure my problems. And since you're married, I'll enjoy myself. And if you aren't careful, you'll have my same problem, Rei."

"I can't breed." Rei replied.

"My problem has nothing to do with an inability to breed."

"Mine does."

"You can still handle B.O.B. though, right?"

"That is what?"

"A vibrator."

"To be honest, I've never been penetrated by anything."

"Virginity... precious and a curse."

"It's impossible for me. I don't need to worry about men, because I will never have one." Rei said.  
"Is Amy still asleep?" Aqua asked.

"I don't know. But I think I will talk to Vanilla now. Enjoy yourselves and think more on baby names." Tikal said, then left Rei and Aqua to themselves.

Tails meanwhile was in the kitchen, sorting a few bits and pieces, she'd prepared a fresh juice for Kneecaps, having discovered exactly what it is he drinks and had other things working in the kitchen, since she was up so early, and even Sonic hadn't woken, she decided to prepare her blue spiky hero a nice breakfast before his morning 'jog'.

After another 10 minutes, she left the breakfast to cook and checked on Kneecaps, who was still asleep in a makeshift pen, crafted using Tails Genius and Sonic's hands. It wasn't perfect, but it did the job just fine. Tails returned to the kitchen and finished up on Sonic's breakfast and served it up on a clean plate.  
"The smell of breakfast should have Sonic in here in...calculating the time it would take the smell to reach his nose...another...4 seconds.." Tails estimated. Suddenly the phone rang. And Tails jumped a little. "That frightened me...I guess I was wrong, I'll just leave this here for him." And Tails went off to answer the phone. She picked up the phone, and brought it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Tails, mate, turn it to the news and quick!" Marine's voice came from the phone and it was frantic.

"Huh? Why? What's the problem." So Tails walked over to the television and turned it on, flipping over to the news.

Tails finally got to the news channel and sat back. "Breaking news this morning, was the announcement that shocked the world." said the anchorman. "We found out thanks to the recovery of a robot G.U.N. found named Lavender. The robot held a video inside of it that we will show to all of you." At the moment, the tape began to play from the news station. Tails was soon shocked to see herself on the screen sitting in front of a table in her lab. And she completely froze.

"M...Marine....wh-what is this..?" She asked, her voice low and obviously in shock.

"Hello everyone." the video began as "Tails" started speaking. "You've probably wondered where I have been all of this time. Well, I'm recording this from my secret lab. I can't tell you exactly where it is, but I will say that I have been here all this time.

"I came here because of a certain instance of my life, one that I have kept secret from all of you. And at this time, I am unable to keep things from you anymore. The truth is that I, Miles 'Tails' Prower... am actually a girl. And not only am I actually a female..." Then "Tails" stood up slowly and moved away from the table in her lab, showing quite a round abdomen. "I am also pregnant.

"I wasn't sure how to explain to everyone about my 'secret', but after recent events, and the fact that this is starting to make me feel uncomfortable at night when I sleep, I finally decided to make a recording of this. Now mind you, I'm only guessing that this will be my expected pregnancy size. I'm actually not as round as you can see. I also want to apologize for using the alias of Miley Inari. The truth is that there really is a Miley Inari from Radical City, but she died two years ago. I also want to apologize to the Inari family. This picture is the real Miley Inari." And "Tails" shows a picture of a female fox that's red in colour with green eyes and one tail. "She really did cosplay me in her spare time and wanted to join the Air Force." and "Tails" sighed.

"I know this may be a shock to all the people who know, respect and love me, but the real Tails was born a girl. And as hard as it may be to know about this, it's harder to come clean. I would've done it sooner, but I was soo scared and a little ashamed to do so. If you choose to hate me because of that, than I don't blame you. All I wish is that you respect me for being myself and who I am. With that said, I'll leave this inside of Lavender in the event something ever happens to me."

With this said, the video on the news stopped and returned to the anchorman. "I want to say that Tails had us all fooled, but the girl has been through enough thanks to all of the hoaxes that have occurred."  
"I feel even worse for her now." said the anchorwoman. "No matter, I still have respect for our favourite fox. We'll be right back." and the channel went to commercial.

"Tails... you feeling okay?" Marine asked with concern. Silence from the fox was Marines answer. "Blaze and I couldn't believe hearing this on the radio. I don't know what this is all about, but I thought I shocked the hell out of that robot. I'm sorry if that was the cause of all this, please don't be mad at me." Then Marine heard a thud, as the phone fell to the floor. "Tails... Tails, please talk to me." No reply.

It was about 13 or so minutes, but finally the rustling Marine heard was clear the phone was moved or picked up, then Sonic's feint voice was heard. "Man, what's the phone doing over here..." He asked.

"Sonic, it's Marine. Pick up the phone!"

"Huh?" And Sonic placed the phone to his ear. "Marine? What's up?"

"You should be watching the news. I told Tails about how the video on the news of her admitting everything was shown." Marine explained. "After I told her, I just heard a thud and nothing more."

Sonic let out a long yawn. "I just woke up and ate breakfast, I heard a door go, so I assumed Tails went to the-...Wait, what did you just say?" Now Sonic was concerned.

"Tails has apparently ratted herself out and it's all over the news." Marine said, her voice was concerned.

Sonic quickly let go of the phone and dashed around the house, afterwards, he caught the phone moments before it reached the floor. "Bad news...she ain't here." Sonic said. Then knocks came at the door.

"Blaze and I will look too. Good luck." and Marine disconnected from the line. Sonic headed to the door and opened it...to find a bunch of reporters who all started blasting questions about Tails.

"Aww man, I don't have time for you!" And Sonic leaped over the reporters and dashed off, his door closing.

Meanwhile, back with Marine and Blaze.  
"What happened, Marine?" Blaze asked.

"Tails hung up the phone. Then after a while, Sonic grabbed the phone." Marine explained. "Forget the rest of the talk. Tails went missing and we have to find her."

"I knew she wouldn't take it well, but you had to go and ignore me and call her..." Blaze sighed. "Let's move, I'm going north, you call the others and have them look, we'd better find her before some reporters or someone else who'll assist in stressing her out."

"Gotcha." And so Blaze flamed up and booted it off the ported boat and into the city.

Meanwhile, Tails was walking through back allies, cradling sleeping Kneecaps, until she came to the door she wanted, and with three knocks, she waited for her doctor to answer. _He should be home, it's not time for work yet...please answer doc._

Dr. Quack, half asleep opened the door. "May I help you?" he asked.

And Tails nearly burst into tears. "C...can I come in please?" She asked, trying to contain herself.

Dr. Quack rubbed his eyes, then finally took a look. "Tails, what in the..." the doctor is shocked. "Come on inside, I'll even check your blood pressure." So Tails enters the house, still doing her best not to break down.

Once inside, Dr. Quack sat Tails on the chair and began to check her pressure. "When Elizabeth woke me up to see the news, I almost shit a brick." Dr. Quack said. "You must be a wreck inside."

"I don't want to be found...by anyone." was the reply.

"So why did you come to me?"

"Because even though I am an absolute wreck...my brain is still working and this is the last place people will think to look for me..." Tails let the tears go now.

"This isn't a place of solitude, but at least you came for a cause of health. Your blood pressure is a bit high."

"Everything is spinning..."

"It should be. Recline for a bit, I'll get you some water." Kneecaps was placed to rest on a chair and Tails rubbed her head. Dr. Quack returned with a glass of ice water and noticed the bundle. "Well now, babysitting?"

"Knuckles dumped him on me." Tails replied. "It seems everyone is out to put a lot of stress and pressure on me these days..."

"Well, I can understand Knuckles 'letting' you watch his brother is a good exercise for you."

"I'm not ready...I'm not ready for anything and now all this...If this keeps up, I'm not going to **last** my pregnancy..." Tails cried.

"Stressing about things will only make things worse." Dr. Quack said as he hands Tails the glass of water. "A state of panic isn't good for either of your health." and the doctor picked up Kneecaps. Tails calmed down and had a drink, placing the glass on a nearby coaster.

"I'll take this one off of your hands. But you really need to understand that this isn't going to go away... And if it does blow away, it won't be for a long time."

"I need time..."

"So is there anything you might want to ask of me?"

"I want to know if I am 'stable', I was going to come and ask this of you before." Tails replied. "But I guess I am nowhere near stable..."

"Define stable."

"Have sex without endangering my baby stable."

"Planning to land a stiff one?"

"Not planning, but need to make a precaution."

"Well, I can check you once you calm down."

"I'm sorry about coming uninvited." Tails sighed and leaned back in the chair, cooling down at last.

"I'm glad you trust your doctor."

"You kept my secret for my entire life, why would I not trust you in my time of need?"

"Of course."

"I knew it was a mistake...to leave Lavender on that ship. I just need to figure out just how G.U.N got her..."

"I think it happened when Shade came into this equation."

"Anything you can tell me?"

"That Lavender goes everywhere with you, huh? I meant the robot?"

"No, I left it on Marine's ship, the last time I checked anyway..." Tails replied with a sigh.

"My guess is that somehow Lavender was bugged by Eggman."

"And the confession? I never recorded that."

"Part of the bug... at least that's my guess. Remember, Eggman did attack you in the hospital before you were rescued by Shade."

"I need to figure this out." And Tails had finally calmed down completely.

"What happened after Shade ran into you guys?"

"I don't remember..."

"Let's say you went back to the ship. Eggman probably had someone bugged, then the bug managed to find its way to Lavender. Once the bug was in Lavender, Eggman uploaded a false video pretence as a file in Lavender's memory core."

"But those EMPs were supposed to fry the bugs..."

"Eggman has some killer tech, Tails. For all we know, the bug can withstand EMPs. Or, the EMPs caused a haywire in Lavender's system to the point where he gained control of it.

"Add that to the fact that G.U.N. has been searching for Eggman after the Metal Sonic incident, Lavender was probably found at a fake base and... well, media central."

"Oh..." Tails said. "Well, thanks for letting me hang here, I feel better now, it was bound to happen soon, I just hope I am not hated...for lying to everyone..."

"Not sure. Now, how about checking you for that concern of yours."

Tails giggled a little. "Yeah, sure. After all this, I'm probably going to have to get laid." And she giggled some more.

"Too bad my sons are too young for you." Dr. Quack joked.

"I already have someone in mind who's just dying to plow me." Tails laughed.

"You mean 'Daichi'?"

"He won't need a cover anymore either."

"Cover?"

"Shadow used the alias Daichi to assist cover up my own. But now that I am revealed as a fraud, he doesn't need an alias anymore."

"Did you even know that a real Miley Inari existed?"

"I didn't, no. I made it up off of the top of my head."

"That the Inaris won't be mad at you. And a lot of people probably aren't too shocked. Many people think that 'boy Tails' is really a girl. Hearing this as fact may have them win lots of bets."

"I don't know..." Tails stretched a little. "After all...the video told them I knew of her, so even though I really don't...The 'me' in the video told otherwise. How can I go out and say I didn't know her now?"

"You probably said that in the video."

"Anyway, can we do that check up now?"

"Right."

With this said and Tails fully reclined, Dr. Quack began to examine Tails. All it took was five minutes and everything was finished.

"So, what's the verdict?" Tails questioned.

"Well, you were, but not anymore." Dr. Quack answered. "If you can managed to keep things calm, you should re-enter your stable period."

"I figured as much. I'll try to stop stressing." Tails sighed.

"Please do, you'll make things worse for you if you keep stressing. You may be close to your stable period, but a premature labour could be hazardous to your health."

"I will be careful." Tails said. "Anyway, I think I have been a bad girl, you're not late for work are you?"

"The life of the medical practitioner is one that is constantly on call." Dr. Quack answered. "Today is my day off though, but I don't mind knowing you two are trying to keep your sanity."

"My lucky day. But I think I shall relocate myself and go to find Cream, hopefully she and Vanilla are in and hopefully the reporters have been and gone from there." Tails said.

"Well, I haven't been in touch with Vanilla for a while. So I don't know where she could be. But after this media thing, everyone, including the media is probably looking for you."

"That's why I came here...I'm not ready to face the media, I need to get stable first."

"The last thing you need to think is staying here will help you dodge the press."

"That's why I am going to Creams..."

"Good luck."

Tails thought for a moment. _Wait a moment....I have an idea... _"Hey, Doc, do you happen to have hair bands?" She asked. "Or a ribbon of some sort?"

"Hmm, not so sure. I'll have to ask Elizabeth when she comes back home."

"I had an idea, what's my most distinctive feature that would be the first thing anyone would look for?" Tails asked.

"Those tails of yours, but you can't do much about that."

"I can." Tails replied. "If I were to make them look like one tail."

She stood up and wagged both her tails. "I have so much fur on them both that if brushed right, they will look like a single tail."

"Hmm..."

Tails takes both her tails into a hand and used her other to brush them roughly, until the fur seemed to merge over each other, and as predicted, they 'looked' like a single tail. "The problem is, I can't wag them at the same pace, only separately, so I need to tie them together."

"And that may give you away." said Dr. Quack.

"Well, what about tucking one tail away?" Dr. Quack shrugged. Tails simply sighed. "Well, what about Kneecaps, shall I take him with me and find Cream?"

"Leave him with me, he's due for a check up anyway."

"I hope Knuckles doesn't kill me for this. Shall I come and get him later?"

"No. And he won't kill you. I'll take care of the wording, so you go ahead and be stealthy. But I think you should be weighted first."

"Uh...sure?" Tails looked a little confused.

"Come on, let's grab the scale."

"Lead on." Tails replied.

It wasn't long for the weigh in. "Well, you've gained thirty-five pounds since you've become pregnant." said Dr. Quack.

"I feel fat now..." Tails scratched her head.

"Baby weight is different from fat."

"Yeah..." Tails rubbed her belly.

"Well, is there anything else you would like from me?"

"Is there a way I can _know_ if I am back in my stable period?"

"That's tough to say. But you can always feel for that sort of thing."

"I find it odd that I'd be able to miscarry this far along."

"Women can miscarry at eight months... or in your case, eight weeks. So don't get too cocky."

"I wasn't..." Tails lowered her ears. "Anyway, I should go and find Cream or somewhere to hide, before reporters show up."

"Good luck."

"Does this place have a backdoor or...?" Tails dragged her words.

"Right, I'll lead you." and Dr. Quack took Tails to the back of the house. A quick trip through the door and the two were outside. "Well, this road takes you many places. Wherever that may be is up to you." Dr. Quack said and passed Tails her bag. "Try not to do anything rash."

"Like what?" Tails questioned her doctor.

"Anything clueless or foolish."

"I'll try not to do so then." Tails said, before taking her leave, she quickly worked out where she was and went in the direction which would take her to Vanilla's the fastest, unfortunately, she would have no option but to go through some public places. She just prayed no one would bother her.

Tails was fortunate enough to make it to Vanilla's and she took the elevator to the floor and knocked on Vanilla's door. _Please answer..._ She thought. Seconds passed and no one came to the door.

"Not good...now what am I going to do...?" Tails sighed and leaned against the wall.

So, Tails left and went back to the elevator. "I guess I face the music and hope I don't pass out from pressure..." She pushed the button and waited for the elevator.

When the elevator opened up, Cream was behind the doors. "I take it you're running from the media too?" she asked.

"Actually, before you showed up, I was going to jump into the pool of sharks, but yeah...pretty much." Tails replied. "Nowhere is safe for too long though."

"Well come on. We better get inside before we're seen."

"Yeah, sure." Tails said, following Cream.

The two made it inside their residence. Seconds later, reporters began to storm the halls.

"Think we're in trouble..." Tails said.

"Tell me you aren't having complications." said Cream.

"What kind of complications?"

"Any."

"Well....not really, but a seat would be good..." Tails rubbed her head slightly. "As of this morning, I'm not 'stable', as it were..."

"Great, you wanna go another round?"

"What do you mean?" Tails asked.

"Preggos talking about their 'stable period' are concerned about getting laid."

"In all fairness, being told I am not stable would concern me more than just sex..." Tails told Cream.

"Fine, I'll go and get the double ender..."

"Cream..." Tails interrupted. "I can't..."

"Well, you're gonna need something to do for a while."

"Miscarrying due to instability isn't on my 'to do' list."

"What about that Good Luck Cake of yours?"

"That we can do." Tails thought for a moment. "When was the last time I unloaded..."

"How the hell should I know?" and Cream shrugged. "Anyway, I'll make the icing for your cake while you empty out... or try to."

And came the knocks from the reporters. "And what about them?" Tails asked, her voice somewhat low, hoping they were not noticed before. Cream didn't answer with words. Just motioning of nothing with her hands. Tails shrugged and headed toward the bathroom, however, she got to the hall and stopped. "Ooh!" She moaned, placing a hand on the wall and her other on her bump.

"What?" Cream asked.

"Painful twinge in my stomach..." Tails replied, keeping still for a moment.

2 minutes passed. "It subsided..." And Tails continued on to the bathroom.

"You really don't need to repeat what happened to what's-her-name on me." said Cream.

"You mean Muri?" Tails called from the bathroom.

"Yeah."

"Why refer to her like that?"

"Sorry, I forgot her name due to everything else that was going on." Cream felt a little bad.

"No worries." Tails replied. It took a few minutes, but Tails returned with Milk.

"I had more than expected..." Tails placed the milk in the kitchen. "How's that icing?"

"Done." Cream answered. "Icing isn't hard to make."

"Still, this'll be fun." Tails smiled. "And...don't worry, I'm not going to drop here. I promise."

"Good."

Cream was busy collecting the icing and felt a bit better with herself. "I wish I knew where my mom was." she said.

"Why? Has she not been here for that long?" Tails asked.

"She had errands to do yesterday, but I haven't heard from her since. She didn't even come home."

"Oh, now I am worried..." Tails said. "Tried her phone?"

"Nothing." Cream sighed. "Amy's phone is nixed as well and Rouge hasn't seen them."

"Oh... I'm sure she's fine." Tails reassured Cream.

"Yeah..."

"Anyway, let's make the cake, it'll take your mind off of it and hopefully those reporters will give up..."

"Yeah."

So the girls went around the kitchen, got the utilities and spent the next 60-70 minutes making a cake, using Tails breast milk instead of the usual milk and they were quite happy with the outcome.  
"Wow...It looks kinda nice..." Tails said.

"It does, huh?" asked Cream.

"I hope Sally likes it." Tails giggled happily.

"She should... and so should Marine."

"Let's not tell Marine it's my breast milk, I want to see how much she likes my breast milk, see if she can know it's in here. Then we'll tell her." Tails giggled.

"Good idea."

"So, at least we know what's for desert later, right?"

"I guess so."

"Well, how about some Mario Kart, whilst this is refrigerated?" Tails offered.

"No thanks, I'll just take a nap." and Cream headed off to her room.

_Wow...she's really worried about her mum...._ Tails thought. She took the cake and put it in the fridge carefully, before she went into the main room and took a seat. _Poor Cream..._ Tails waited for a little bit, but then followed Cream to her room and knocked.

"Is something the matter?" asked Cream.

"Wanted to know if you wanted company." Tails replied.

"Might as well. This'll let us sleep together again."

"Indeed." Tails replied, making her way into Creams room. "I might be unstable as such, but that doesn't mean snuggling isn't allowed." She giggled.

"Snuggling..." Cream trailed off.

"You don't like to snuggle?"

"I didn't say that."

"I'm still asking."

"I guess everyone is reacting to you like I did."

"What....what do you mean?"

"You being a girl. I was really messed up when I got the news. Now the media is all messed up after hearing it."

"And......" Tails paused for a moment. "I've also had the same reaction..."

"Uh huh."

"I'm scared, Cream..."

"Of course you are, you were just ratted out by your own machine."

"I don't know what to do..." Tails was nearly about to cry.

"Try to relax... this'll all blow over in time. Unlike that stupid Octobitch!"

"Octobitch?" Tails calmed a little.

"Yeah. And I'm tired of her ass."

"Who are you talking about?"

"This bitch that used fertility abuse and had eight kids. I don't wanna hear about her anymore."

"I'm still not following, but fine, I'll drop the subject."

"So what's next for you?"

"Napping with you." Tails smiled happily.

"And after that?"

"I'll figure that out when it comes." Tails walked over to Cream.

"Stand up."

"Right, you need the propped pillows." and Cream got up.

"Not what I had in mind." Tails said, before she pulled Cream into a hug, her bump only left a little problems, but it wasn't that bad a hug, Tails managed to get her hands around Creams shoulders at least.

_Hugs are nice... Mmmm, hug...._ thought Cream as she was embraced by Tails.

"Come, let's nap." Tails smiled as she broke the hug.

"Right." said Cream, then she propped up a few pillows for Tails before helping her down on the bed. Once Tails was down, Cream lay right beside her.


	28. Chapter 28

Over at the Pool, Vanilla was enjoying bath time. The waters of the pool has a temperature that is relaxing to the touch and Vanilla figured this would be a good time to have a moment in the water. "You truly are a calm one, aren't you?" Vanilla asked Kweli. "You really like bath time... yes you do... yes you do... yes, you, do..." and Vanilla cupped more water into her hand and let it rinse Kweli's belly.  
_This really does bring back memories._ Vanilla thought. _It seems like only yesterday that I could remember bathing Cream like this. My, time really does fly and children truly do grow so fast._ Kweli managed to coo in Vanilla's hands as she continued to wash the young buck.

"You're an incredible mother, aren't you?" Said Aqua as she walked over.

"No one is, really." Vanilla answered. "How did you sleep?"

"Average." Aqua replied. "Little Kweli wouldn't be embarrassed if my little girls join in bath time would he?" She giggled.

"Of course not, he could use more friends." Vanilla answered.

"I shall go and get them." And Aqua wonders off.

Vanilla shook her head and continued bathing Kweli. _I better remember to do this with my mother daughters._

It was about 10 minutes, but Aqua came back with only one of her daughters. "Here we are." She said.

"There are the girls.... I'm sorry, I wasn't around for the naming." said Vanilla

"Only have one, and we haven't named them yet, so you haven't missed anything." Aqua said. "Hiei has the other, right now."

"So both of them aren't going to bathe?"

"Not at the same time, no." Aqua replied. "Hiei was oddly insistent with his request to be left with her, so I figured that would be good for him, since what I told."

"I see."

And Aqua joins the bath. "How is Kirika doing?" She asked.

"I don't know. I haven't gone to check on her since Chaos brought her here, but she's near death."

"I feel horrible about it all..."

"Don't, you have other things to worry about."

"You do realise the impact on Muri this will cause if Kirika passes, don't you?" Aqua asked.

"I'm aware of that, but not telling her will only do more damage than being honest to her." Vanilla answered.

"Did I say don't tell her?"

"What do you suggest?"

"I'm afraid I don't know." Aqua said, as she bathed her daughter. "We can only pray Kirika recovers from this..."

"I hope Lavender is doing okay."

"Who?" Aqua asked, curiously.

"The other vixen in class."

"You mean Tails child?"

Vanilla sighed. "Yes. That little girl was named three weeks into her pregnancy."

"Wow, I see. I guess it was easier for her with names, since...there's not really a father." Aqua said. "Can't be a joint decision with only one."

"Not really. It's actually tougher."

"Really?" Aqua questioned, she tickled her daughter a little. "You're so cute, little Yuzuyu." She smiled.

"That's a nice handle, what does it mean?" asked Vanilla

"Huh?" Aqua looked oblivious.

"Yuzuyu, what does that mean?"

"Honestly, I've no idea." Aqua giggled. "It just came out. Is in one of my favourite manga. She's the adorable 5 year old girl that a young flirty boy has to look after."

Vanilla smiled. "Yuzuyu... well, you probably won't be able to leave until you name both of them." and she continued to bathe Kweli.

"Well, I had an idea for a name when I was in my early days, when I thought I only had one child. But, I thought about naming my girl...Tsunami..." Aqua said.

"Did you ever want to be a surfer?"

"Been there, done that."

Vanilla shook her head. "Every time."

"What? I've participated in every water activity..."

"Tsunami is a surfer thing."

"I'm well aware of that." Aqua said. "....You know, nevermind, I didn't think you'd understand."

"I've never been surfing."

Aqua places her hand over the water, it swirls around the location she hovered her hand. "You don't need to surf to know why I had the idea."

"No biggy. I guess Hiei went to name the other one... either that or is coaxing Tikal to use the tribal paints for protective markings."

"Hiei is a mystery." Aqua said. "But, that's the reason I fell in love with him, I guess."

"My late husband was a mystery at times..."

Aqua continued to bath her baby. "I think Hiei can name our other child, I'm okay with that."

"I see. And are you two seeing eye to eye now?"

"Transition time required."

"I see."

"Well, I think this has been a decent bath, we're finished now." Aqua stood, with her daughter.

"Same." said Vanilla as she stood with Kweli. "Let's dry these newborns off. I also have to feed you too."

"By 'you' I assume you're talking to Kweli." Aqua said.

Vanilla wrapped Kweli in a towel. "You know, you really should take this baby-parent time to resolve things with that husband of yours." she told Aqua.

"We're not in any danger, things will work out, they always do."

"For the sake of your daughters, I hope that is the case."

"You have more pressing issues than my love life, dear." Aqua told her.

"Of course. Here's to a happy ending for all of us." and Vanilla took her leave. And Aqua returned to her hut.

Tails was slowly coming to, as her belly was moving. She rubbed it slightly and let out a yawn. _I guess Lavender wants to play around a little...either that or something is bothering her. _Tails then noticed Cream, who was still asleep next to her. Tails lifted a hand and gently stroked Cream's cheek. Cream didn't say anything, but she turned in her sleep. Tails smiled and checked around. _I wonder if I can get up without disturbing Cream..._ She thought. So, she slowly began to try getting up and out of bed without waking Cream. Having only made Cream shift position a little bit a few times, Tails had managed to get out of bed, via the bottom of the bed and was carefully heading to the door of the room. As Tails headed to the door, she heard Cream stirring in bed.

"No, I don't wanna. I don't want to date the Big Giant Head." and the rabbit turned over in her sleep. Tails simply sweatdropped and left the room quietly. She then headed to the bathroom. Upon entering, she did her business, washed up and left, wondering into the living room, where she sat down and sighed. She looked at her belly and decided to run her finger down, seeing if Lavender would 'reply'. No response from Lavender.

Meanwhile, everyone gathered around at the alter of the Master Emerald in the old Mystic Ruins. Vanilla, Aqua and Hiei managed to wrap up the three babies properly. "Okay everyone, I'll bring everyone back in multiple trips. It's easier this way." said Tikal.

"Makes sense." Amy replied.

"Any questions before we leave?" asked Tikal.

"Nope." Hiei replied.  
"What kind of flowers do you like?" Aqua asked Tikal.

"None that still exist, sadly." Tikal answered. "Any other questions?"

"May we leave now?" Hiei asked.

"You're leaving last." and Tikal stuck out her tongue. "Any other reasonable questions?"

"Are you testing my patience?"

"Rei, do you have any questions?"

"Not one you can answer." Rei replied.

"I'll try to help your situation however I can." Tikal reassured Rei.

Rei sighs. "Time to go back to a ton of armour..."

"Okay. Amy, I'll take you and the other shop workers first." and Tikal stood in the water.  
"Um, Aqua... I don't have the key to the shop." Amy noted.

"We will discuss that after we leave, we have much to talk about before I go." Aqua replied.

"Gotcha." and Amy nods. "Well girls, let's get our feet wet."

The other girls that work in Aqua's shop got into the water. Then the five girls held hands and were soon gone in a flash of light. "I sure hope Cream is okay..." said Vanilla as she held Kweli.

Hiei closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them. "She's fine." He said.

"You know, I find it odd how you can see the outside world, but you haven't named your daughter yet." Hiei doesn't reply. Vanilla shook her head. _Well, I better swing around and grab some certificates. I'll need them eventually for everything that has turned up due to recent events._ she thought.

"What certificates?" Hiei asked.

"The ones you won't respond to." Vanilla answered.

"Hiei, stop mind reading, it's rude." Aqua scolded.  
"Uh huh...Sorry, habit." And Hiei walked off slightly.

"Learn when and where to pick brains, young man." Vanilla scolded Hiei.

"You're not my mother, you never will be, so don't act as you can scold me like I were your child." Hiei replied to Vanilla.

"You're right, I should let your wife scold you instead." and Vanilla looked at Aqua. "Hopefully, you won't have too many problems putting your man in line."

"Trust me, I have my ways." Aqua replied.  
"Hiei is always like that, ma'am." Rei told Vanilla.

"He's always full of himself? I find that hard to believe." said a cocky Vanilla.

Rei walked over to Vanilla and whispered in her ear. "He has a hard time showing emotions, because he fears they will betray him again." She explained.

Tikal returned from the first drop-off. "So, I take it you will want to go next?" she asked Vanilla and Rei.

"I'll wait a little while longer, I still need to enjoy what little freedom I have left." Rei said.

"I will go instead." Vanilla answered.  
"Right. Come on in, the water's fine." said Tikal.  
Vanilla stepped into the water. "If you know how to work the genetics, you can grow me some rainbow roses, Aqua. But that choice is yours."

"I can try, I guess." Aqua replied, she also joined in the water. Hiei looked over his shoulder and sighed before looking back ahead of him.

"So I take it you've named that one?" asked Aqua.

"Yuzuyu is good for me, and Hiei won't complain either." Aqua smiled.

"Well, what say you, Dad?"

"I'm fine with it." Hiei replied.

"That too, but not what I meant." Tikal was specific.

"Then what did you mean?"

"Last time I checked, new families leave at the same time."

"Last time I heard, you banished me to go last."

"Hiei! Get over here and stop acting like a jerk!" Aqua yelled at him.

"Maybe he needs more time in his freedom." joked Vanilla. "Besides, it's not like he doesn't have a name for the other twin..."  
"Oh, that's right." Tikal remembered. "Your daughters can't leave unless named. I mean, you do have a good name, right?"

"I'm having trouble deciding." Hiei said. "I mean, there's Chouko, Etsuko, Haruko...Manami..."

"Perhaps I will wait on sending you, Aqua. It wouldn't be fair to have one twin here and one twin elsewhere." Tikal said with disappointment. "This will give you time to come to terms with both names of the girls." and in a flash of light, Tikal, Vanilla and Kweli were gone.

"I see...." Aqua said. "Hiei...doesn't Manami have two combinations?"  
"Yes. Mana as in 'love, affection.' and Mi which can be either Beautiful or 'sea, ocean.'" Hiei replied.

"Well, you know how much I love the ocean." Aqua said.  
"Indeed, Manami it is then..." And Hiei walked over to Aqua and took a seat, crossing his legs and looking at his daughter in his arms, Aqua just sat next to him.  
"How cute." Rei said quietly.

"After you sort out your shop with that hedgehog, go to Chun-nan." Hiei said. "Pay your family a visit, you're safer there and no one will be able to get you or our children."  
"Are you sure?" Aqua asked, Hiei nodded in reply.  
"Hopefully, when Vanilla wants to find Irum, the shit will hit the fan and all this craziness will end."

"I am conflicted." Rei said sadly.

"Go on." Hiei replied, looking at Rei.

"Look at me. I can live here like it's normal. Once I leave, I'll be back in my 'shell' again like this never even happened."

"Perhaps it's time you had an upgrade." Hiei said.

"Upgrade.... I can upgrade as much as possible, but I still can't live normally."

"I mean a real upgrade. Not a mechanical one, but perhaps it's time to get rid of that ticker and get you a **real** heart." Hiei told her.

"A real heart... the list of donors for hearts is as long as Orion's Belt. And even with a donated heart, I still can't survive on my own."

"You know what." And Hiei gave 'Manami' to Aqua and stood, walking over to Rei, he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked down on her. "I, personally, am going to find a way for you to live a normal carefree life, as you have been one of my most loyal friends."

"God knows you don't have many of them."

"I have enough." Hiei replied. "You've followed under my order without question since we first met. It's about time I repaid you for that."

Tikal returned to the old Mystic Ruins. "Well, all that's left are you three." she said. "We can go whenever you're ready."

"Leave Rei here until she decides what she wants." Hiei said, letting go of Rei and walking over to Tikal.

"I believe you wanted to discuss things with me?"

"Is that so?"

"You tell me. Surely you have things that are on your mind..."

"I have things on my mind, but nothing you can help me with at this point."

"Fine."

"Perhaps I'm not ready to talk about what bothers me yet."

"I won't push... Vanilla may be busting your chops right now, but I'm not one to judge."

"What is there to judge?" Hiei asked. "I'm only cold hearted, because it's not safe to be otherwise. Not yet, I won't let my guard down, not for a second."

"I see."

"So, Rei. What will you do? Stay here or come back knowing I am seeking to find you real freedom?" Hiei asked, looking at Rei.

"I am uncertain." Rei answered.

"Is it easy to contact you from in here?" Hiei asked Tikal.

"Nope." Tikal answered. "Cell phones, pagers and regular electronics don't work here. Just a radio, TV and medical stuff."

Hiei looks back at Rei. "My telepathy seems unaffected by this...place. So, you know how to contact me, stay here until you decide, when you do, I'm sure I'll hear you when you're ready." He said to her.

"Right." said Rei.  
"Well, I guess that means you two need to fill a few things out." said Tikal.

"Oh?" Aqua asked.

"There was a reason why I took a bit of time with Vanilla." and Tikal walked towards Aqua and Hiei.

"Are you talking about the second name?"

"Actually, about both." It was at this moment that Tikal handed Hiei and Aqua a clipboard which held two birth certificates. "You two need to fill this stuff out. Luckily, the time of birth, gender and your first names were already filled out. You two have to do the rest."

Aqua and Hiei looked at each other before nodding and filling out the names for both children. Yuzuyu and Manami.

"After you guys are done, let me know so I can help with the rest of the stuff needed for these." Tikal said.

After finishing the paper work, it was given back to Tikal. "There." Hiei said.

"So, who is who again?"

"Yuzuyu is in my left arm, Manami is in my right arm." Aqua told Tikal.

"And who was born first?"

"Manami was, I think..." Aqua thought for a moment.

"You aren't sure?"

"A lot happened betwe-..."  
"Manami was born first." Hiei interrupted.

"I see. Either way, let's go and finish up with these certificates. The important part comes next."

"Fine."  
"What important part?" Aqua asked.

"As you should've seen, the space for the identifying footprint and the weight area are blank. So we have to print them and weigh them."

"May we go now?" Hiei asked.

"Yes, let's go weigh and print your daughters." So Tikal led Hiei and Aqua back into the delivery hut. Manami and Yuzuyu were then weighted, printed, and the rest of the info needed was filled out on the birth certificates. Afterwards, the two parents stepped into the water along with Tikal and were gone in a flash. _There they go..._ Rei thought and sat on the steps.

Upon arriving in the city, Vanilla and the others were all still around.  
"Congratulations on naming your children." Amy smiled.  
"Thanks." Aqua replied.

"Welcome back to civilization." Vanilla greeted.

"About ti-..." Hiei was suddenly interrupted by a Sonic boom which shot passed, then there was a loud halting screech of sneakers, before Sonic zoomed back over.  
"Oh Vanilla! There you are, I've been looking everywhere. You gotta help us find Tails before the press does." He said to her.

"Luckily, I was informed of things thanks to Hiei here." said Vanilla. "I'll go and find her physician."

At that moment, the media were heard running up.  
"Oh Sonic." Hiei said, "I just thought I'd inform you that Tails is located near the beach, in the square hotel." The media then took this and ran off.  
"Thanks." Sonic said, somewhat sarcastically before he was about to bolt, but was halted as Hiei grabbed him by the arm. "What are you doing??" Sonic asked angrily.  
"Don't be a fool, that was a lie." Hiei said. Vanilla shook her head and left.

"Right, Amy. We're going to head off and talk about your future." Aqua told the pink hedgehog.

"Sonic, Tails is at Vanilla's place." Hiei told the blue hedgehog, before Sonic then bolted with a thanks.

Tails was spread out on Vanilla's sofa and was watching the ceiling, there were knocks at the door, but due to fearing the Media, she simply ignored it. _This truly does suck....Why did it have to be like this?_ More knocks came to the door. Tails decided to investigate, so she got up and snuck over to the door and had a look through the small eye piece in the door, checking who it was and hoping she wouldn't be noticed. Tails quickly noticed it was indeed the media and she hastily, but quietly walked back into the living room. _Go away, __**please**__... _She pleaded in thought.

Cream walks out from the room to see what was going on. Seeing the sense of panic on Tails' face was enough to understand everything, so she simply lifted herself with flight. Though her ears only flapped at a hovering distance, Cream returned to her room. Tails simply waited, listening to the knocking and waiting for it to go away.  
"Excuse me, what are you doing?" Someone asked outside the door.  
"We're looking for Tails, we have a lot of questions." A reporter replied.  
"How long have you been knocking?"  
"About 20 minutes now?"  
"Doesn't that give the impression she isn't here?"  
"We saw her go in here."  
"Well, in that case, shoo."  
"What? No way, we're not going anywhere until we get answers."  
"Are you sure? How about I have each and every one of you reported for harassment, or I can simply beat the crap out of every single one of you until you decide to leave? Which will it be?"  
"You can't do that!"  
"Do you really want to test my words?" And with that, Tails heard scampering of feet as the media seemingly fled in terror. 15 seconds later, more knocks to the door.  
"Ms Vanilla? Cream? Miley, are you in here?" It was Muri's voice now. This made Tails perk her ears and head over to the door.

Tails then opened the door and know and behold, there was Muri and she was with Kai it seemed. _I guess he was the one who scared off the media..._ She thought.  
"Miley, are you okay?" Muri asked.  
"You know...you can call me Tails now like everyone else, everyone already knows I'm a fraud..."  
"So...Miley really isn't your real name?" Muri questioned.  
"Nope, it was a random name I thought up, it was just a very bad coincidence that the person really existed..." Tails said. "Come in, before they decide to come back..."  
"Oh, they won't be coming back here for some time, I'm sure..." Kai said.  
"Weren't you in the hospital, Muri?" Tails asked.  
"Well, yes...but all of a sudden, a doctor came and told me that Mr. Kai was here to pick me up under request of my mum, so I was taken from the hospital and we've been wondering around ever since." Muri replied.  
"I see..." Tails wasn't convinced.

"Hey, what's going o-" Cream said as she came out, only to be cut off by the presences at the door. "Muri, you were released from the hospital?"

"Apparently so..." Tails replied as she walked back in, Muri and Kai came in, Kai closed the door, before leaning on a nearby wall, folding his arms as the girls gathered on some chairs.

"So what's with this guy, I don't remember seeing him before?" asked Cream.

"Me either, he just came and picked me up. The doctors seemed to trust him, so I did too." Muri said.  
"I think you're too trusting..." Tails replied.  
"Well, he's been really sweet to me so far..."

"As long as I don't have to deal with Shena, I'll be fine." said Cream. "That woman really has issues."

"She'll be too busy kissing the sorry ass of her wuss boyfriend after I beat the crap out of him." Kai said from the corner.

"And that explains everything." said Cream.

"If I were to go into detail, there was a little bit of 'gang warfare' in the 'new shopping district' of Station Square, a few of your friends were involved, including your mother. After a few issues, I was ordered to pick up Muri as a precaution."

"And judging by the way you just spoke on Shena... you're probably close to Hiei." Cream said.

"He's my employer, and my cousin. A friend of his is a friend of mine...just like an enemy of his is someone I'd like to kick in."

"So, do you know what happened with Aqua?" asked Cream.

"She dropped." Kai replied. "Your mother and a few other were trying to evade 'Rexchus' and make their way to the hospital, before they vanished into thin air."

"And that explains everything. So, can I get either of you something to drink?"

"I'm fine." Kai replied.  
"Do you have any milkshake?" Muri asked.

"Nope." Cream answered. "But thanks to 'Blue Boy', I know exactly what went on as of late."

"Kai..." Kai said.

"Right. Here's the deal... Aqua went into labour during some raid. Apparently, my mom ran into Tikal and took Aqua to the OMR. There, Tikal helped Aqua around with stuff and Mom played midwife again. Everything fits perfectly... except the part as to why Aqua went into labour. I probably don't wanna know anyway, so I'll leave it at that."

"Believe it or not, that actually folds back to Shena's doing." Kai said.

Cream looked towards Tails. "And what do you think of this?"

"I think it's entirely messed up, but sounds the most logical...How was Shena involved?" Tails asked.

"Her pet wolf, Tia. Tia is an emotionless cow unless told to do something. Shena must have told her to mess up Aqua's shop, which in turn caused a fight, in which Tia pushed Aqua over, educing her labour." Kai replied. "I dealt with Tia shortly afterwards."

"Tails, we're going to the next lamaze class. And I will personally be helping you out."

"Got a plan, huh?" Tails asked.

"Not at the moment, but I will have one that day."

"I see." Tails replied.  
"Would you also like me to accompany you? I'm sure Muri will be in safer hands by then." Kai questioned.

"I think everyone will want to see her after what went down last class. That and you can reduce collateral damage."

"She can't cause damages in her state and her boyfriend won't be up for a rematch any time soon either. Shena will disrupt the class, but only to a minimal level."

"I meant media damage..." Cream said with a sweat drop.

"Fun."

"And what about you two?"

"I'm going as well?" Muri questioned. "I dunno...it's kinda scary."

Tails simply shrugged. "I gotta face the music sooner or later; I hope you can handle the media, Kai."  
"Recap back a few minutes, there were a good 20 reporters in the hall moments ago. I'll be fine." Kai replied.

"Then we have a plan." said Cream.

"You don't have any limitations on how.....persuasive I can be, do you?" Kai questioned.

"I'm not gonna push that envelope."

"Freedom it is."

"So what are we going to do now?"

"Don't limit yourselves to this house, feel free to go anywhere, I'll keep the media away, I promise." Kai said.  
"I would like some fresh air, but....I'm still worried. I also want to find Vanilla, she's been gone too long." Tails said.  
"Ms Vanilla is missing?" Muri asked.

"Nope, just had to do a bit of foot work." Vanilla said as she walks in through the door."  
"Mom, you're home." Cream said, running to her mom and giving her a hug.

Muri relaxed a little. "Thank heavens you're back, Cream and I were really worried." Tails said.

"I hope you don't mind my being here." Kai said.

"Not really." said Vanilla. "Muri, come and grab your son."

Muri smiles and walks over to take Kweli from Vanilla. "Thank you for looking after him, but I wonder what happened, how come Mr Kai came and picked me up? What's going on?"

"Grab a seat everyone, I will explain everything." said Vanilla.

Once everyone was in a spot, Vanilla explained the events as of late. Some of the news wasn't taken well, but it was to be expected as everything was left to bare. Kai had no problems absorbing everything, but the girls' reactions spoke for themselves. "And that's the whole story." Vanilla wrapped up explaining.

Muri was stunned for words, but the tears welled in her eyes, knowing Kirika was badly hurt was hard for her to take.  
"That's awful...just who are these people and what is their problem?!" Tails wasn't happy either. "Oooh, if we could, Sonic and Shadow'd take care of them real good for this!"  
"Trust me when I say that Rexchus will not get off lightly for recent events." Kai said from the side.

"In light of everything, Kirika managed to pull a few strings as far as you are concerned, Muri." Vanilla said. "Should anything happen to her, you'll have me as a legal guardian."

"But.....but...." Muri was still in shock it appeared. "Kirika can't go...she can't...."

"From what was described by Tikal, Kirika has a thread's worth of life left in her." said Cream as she took Kweli from Muri. "So that means Kweli here is gonna be family, right?"  
"He'll be your nephew." Vanilla cleared up.  
"We have to find Tikal... at least so Muri can say goodbye."

"No! I'll never say goodbye to Kirika!" And Muri was up and ran out of the house, only to be pursued instantly by Kai.

"In spite of everything, that was expected..." Tails said.

"Muri sure is a frail girl." said Cream. "I hope she gets a hold of herself quickly..."  
"Not likely." Vanilla said. "But the truth is, Kirika's going to die." and Vanilla walked over and closed the door.

"Poor Muri...." Tails lowered her ears. "We gotta get this Nazaruda guy, make him pay for what he's done..."

"Not yet, I have to finish with things." said Vanilla. "I need him around for one more thing..."

"For what?"

"Muri has a 'twin' so to speak named Irum, who is kept under lock and key by Nazaruda. I plan to rescue her, but that won't happen unless I speak with Nazaruda. With that said, I'm going to my room to work on something." and Vanilla went to retire. At that moment, knocks came to the door.

"Who do you think that might be?" asked Cream.

"Did Kai catch Muri already?" Tails questioned in reply.

"Hey, it's just us again." Kai said from the other side of the door.  
"He was quick..." Tails replied. Cream opens the door, to let her guests inside. Kai walks back in, Muri in arms, but she's clearly still distressed, trying to calm from her tears, but failing miserably.  
"Thank you." Kai said.

"No problem." Cream said. "Come on, Muri. You have to be strong for Kweli now, he needs you."

"I c-can't..." And Muri sniffles in her tears, Kai sits her down in a chair and then sits next to her.

Tails goes to Vanilla's room and knocks. "Um, Muri is back." She informed her.

"Okay." Vanilla responds. "Try to entertain everyone, I'm busy at the moment."

"Sure." And Tails leaves, heading back in where the other two are trying to calm Muri, however, Muri's crying only seemed to entice Kweli, who in reply also began crying. "Oh no..." And so Tails went to deal with Kweli, who wasn't difficult to calm down.

"I guess everyone needs a picker upper." said Cream.

It was a long 5 minutes, but eventually both Muri and Kweli were at peace, whilst Kweli was sleeping, Cream and Muri had put on Wall-E and Muri was finally no longer crying.

"Well, now what's next?" asked Cream.

"Anyone want cake?" Tails giggled.

"Cake would be nice..." Muri replied.  
"Cream, come with me please." Tails smiled.

"Right." Cream responded and walked over to Tails.

Tails walked to Vanilla's room and knocked again. "Vanilla, would you like some cake?" She asked.

"I would, but serve everyone else a slice." Vanilla answered.

"I will." And Tails took Cream by the hand and they went into the kitchen, where they pulled the cake they made using Tails milk. "We gotta make sure there's enough for everyone else too, so, let's work out the slices." Tails told Cream. Cream simply nodded.

So, Cream and Tails worked out just how many slices would be needed for all their friends and the company at present. There was enough cake to go around and they slices weren't too small either, in fact, the sizes were pretty good. So, after cutting a slice for Vanilla, Cream, Tails and Muri, as Kai did not wish for any, the girls put them on a plate and took them to Vanilla first.

Tails and Cream have taken Vanilla her slice, take it from there.

"Everyone else ate, right?" asked Vanilla.

"We're about to take Muri's cake, but I wanted your opinion on the cake first." Tails replied.

"I'll have my slice after everyone else is served." Vanilla said. "Cream, you should've told Tails how this works."  
"Mom, just take the slice." Cream said. "Don't make her feel bad."  
"Well, I guess I can be out of formality just this once." and Vanilla took her slice of cake.

Tails smiled. "I hope you like it." She said.

So, Cream and Tails leave Vanilla to her cake and soon after give Muri hers, which she neatly begins to eat after a thank you.

"So, how long did it take to make it?" asked Kai.

"Give or take an hour or two I think." Tails thought. "Do you remember, Cream?"

"Nope, was busy making the cake with you." Cream answered.

"I didn't keep track of the time, sorry." Tails smiled.

"So what do you think, Muri?"

"It's yummy." Muri said. "Has a lot of flavour."

"You sure you're gonna pass on the cake, Kai?" Cream asked.

"I'm not a cake person, sorry." Kai replied.

Vanilla finally walks out of the room with her empty plate. "Interesting cake you have made." she said.

"Special ingredient, being Milk El Prower." Tails giggled.

"And not just yours either..."

"Hm?" Tails tilted her head.

"Let's just say that 'Prower de Leche' wasn't the only milk included in this cake."

"Oh..." Tails looked unhappy. "Are you disappointed?"

"Not at all, but it's not just you in this cake."

"Was pretty sure I only used mine..."

"Actually...." Cream said, twisting her foot.

"What?" Tails asked.

"It's the icing on the cake. I used Muri's milk to make the icing."

"B...but...why?" Tails asked. "This was meant to be my cake, made with my milk."  
"You used my milk?" Muri was curious.

"Well, at least it was good." said Vanilla. "Besides, both of you girls need luck anyway."  
"I figured that it wouldn't go unnoticed, but I guess nothing gets past Mom..." said Cream.

Tails says nothing, but she returns to the kitchen and puts her untouched slice on the side, before she headed to the spare room and closed the door.  
"I still like it." Muri said.

"You know that you messed up again, Cream." said Vanilla.  
"Tell me about it." Cream said sadly. "So much for surprises... But you didn't have to rain on the parade."  
"Either way, I'm done with everything. Also, have you taken any medication since our ordeal with Kweli, Muri?"

"Medication?" Muri questioned. Vanilla turns to Kai, but says nothing.

"Don't look at me, I was just given an order to pick her up, so I did. I didn't get given anything for her." Kai said defencively.

"Let me remind you that I'm currently Muri's guardian."

"And that means...?" Kai questioned.

"That means you explain everything that has happened with Muri from the point you picked her up until now."

I picked her up and we wondered around town for a few hours, before she led me to this place. I gave her a few things like ice cream and a drink, but that's about it." Kai replied.

"So you didn't grab her from the hospital?"

"Yes, I did. But as I was ordered, I had to do it quickly, but no doctor gave me anything."

"Aside from your IVs, were you given any medication or drugs, Muri?"

"I don't rememb..." Muri paused for a moment. "I did get some papers..." She said.

"What about these papers?"

"I was given papers by doctors." And Muri looked through the bag she had and pulled out a few crumpled pieces of paper, which she gave to Vanilla.

While Vanilla examined the paperwork, Cream decided to check in on Tails. "Hey, please don't be too upset." she said sadly at the door. No reply from Tails. "Okay, this was bad on my end and I'm sorry. But let's look at it this way. Sonic and everyone else has to enjoy your cake. Which means another one will have to be made. I'll even teach you how to make your own frosting."

Tails opened the door. "Don't worry about it, I'm being childish...I mean...it's only a cake. It's not important..." She said.

"Yes it was and you know it."

"Look...It doesn't matter, just don't worry about it." And Tails walked past Cream and into the living room, where she took a seat.

_Mood swing._ thought Cream and into the living room she went.

It was at this time that noise was heard out the front door, the media was back it appeared, and they wanted Tails.

"Great, more news." said Cream.  
"Do you want to handle this, or should I?" Vanilla asked Kai.

"That depends, can I hurt them?" Kai asked.

"You mean that didn't happen last time?" Cream joked as she stuck out her tongue.

"Nope, they ran off before I could hit them." Kai said. "It's up to you, diplomacy or action, you're the diplomat, and I'll bring out the pain, if they persist." Kai said to Vanilla.

"Lead everyone into the back. I'll handle it." Vanilla said.

"Let me know if you need less subtle ways to get rid of them." Kai said as everyone else headed into the back, Kai waited for them to go into the room, then stood by the door, leaned against the wall, watching the front door almost like a guard.

"Watch and learn, Kai." Vanilla said and headed to the door. She took a deep breath and opened the door to address the reporters. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the news. So which channels are here to ask questions?"

"2." One called.  
"4." Said another.  
"1" A third added.  
"3." The forth was heard.  
"Sky News!" Came from the back.  
"I lost my microphone! Where is it!" Came a random.  
"You're stepping on my foot, jerk!"  
"That isn't me..." And more noise came from the pushy shovie news reporters.

"So many channels..." Vanilla said. "Anyway, I represent Sonic the Hedgehog and company. This media frenzy has done quite the amount of psychological trauma and I have folders to serve every last channel present." and Vanilla pulled out various manila envelopes. "So which of you news stations is going to accept their serving to court first?"

And with that, the reporters all scattered like insects, fleeing. "Oh noooo! We're in trouble!" Came that and many other simular phrases as they left.

"Works every time." and Vanilla closed the door.

"Bluffing, I take it?" Kai questioned her.

"Nope. It's quite the civil lawsuit. When I ran into Sonic, he explained how the various news stations bombarded him and even caused damages to his home. I also managed to get written testaments and pictures of the frenzied media causing trouble to everyone. That ass is mine."

"Wow...you have been busy." Kai said, as the girls came out from the back.

"Of course."

"I think it'd be good for everyone to get some fresh air, no?" Kai reccommended.

"Right, lead the way."

Kai then walked out the front door and waited, everyone got a few bits and peices and then left, all ready to go out for a walk.  
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tails was obviously a bit worried.

"We'll be fine." Vanilla answered. "No news station wants to get sued."

"Um...okay." Tails said, still slightly unconvinced.  
"Or pounded." Kai added.

"Where shall we go?" Muri asked, she was holding Kweli close to her, but not so much that it'd cause discomfort to the infant.

"For a walk." Vanilla answered.

"Nowhere in particular then?"

The group made it to the elevator and the door opened, however, it wasn't so pleasant as there was a couple arguing, however, it quickly ended with Mighty getting slapped and the girl storming out of the elevator and down the call. Mighty simply sighed and rubbed his face.  
"Man, just my luck..." He said.

"You need a walk, come with us." offered Vanilla.

"She's so complicated..." Mighty replied. The group entered the elevator with Mighty and Kai hit bottom floor. The doors closed and down they went.  
"What's the situation?" Kai asked.  
"My girlfriend or ex-girlfriend, i don't know which, keeps on and offing our relationship. Quite frankly she's more indecisive than a child is between chocolate and strawberry ice cream." Mighty replied.

"And whenever she does decide we're together, she just makes things hell all the time, makes a big deal out of all little things."

"Sounds like she didn't have a good relationship with her father." said Vanilla.

"Either way, I'm ending it. I can't be doing with it anymore. She's not a girlfriend, she's a chore..." Mighty sighed.

"That's too bad." said Cream. "Well, let's go see what's up with Rouge. Hopefully we can all grab a few drinks."

"I could use drinks about now." Mighty said.  
"I'll treat you to a strong one." Kai told him.  
"I'm good with seeing Rouge." Tails said.  
"Which one was Rouge again?" Muri asked.

"The bat with a rack." Cream answered comically.

"Oh, big bust bat." Muri replied. Everyone shares a laugh, including Kai.


	29. Chapter 29

Meanwhile, Amy was called into Aqua's office. She wasn't sure what was going to happen, but she opened the door anyway. "You wanted to see me, Aqua?" she asked while closing the door behind her.

"Yes, as you know I go into maternity leave, but I want to observe your skills in management before I can trust you to run my business in my absence." Aqua replied.

"Of course. I have to prove my managing worth to you." Amy nods.

"Well, the girls seem to like you, and you did do a good job keeping things organised within the...crisis. And you seem well enough to handle yourself from thugs, such as Tia." Aqua continued. "And you're a good hairdresser to boot. You've handled yourself under pressure, even though you didn't need to at the time. You've impressed me greatly so far, so we'll see how the day goes and you are in charge for the whole day. I will not step in to help you and you must handle the whole day of work. Do this and you have the job, if I am forced to intervene for any reason, well, we'll see."

"Right. So, is there anything else I should be aware of?"

"You'll be forgiven if Rexchus shows up for any reason and mess things up." Aqua said. "Other than that, I'll be here today, but tomorrow I won't."

"I see."

"It's not too hard, is it?" Aqua asked.

"It shouldn't be." Amy answered with a smile. "I better go back and work with the girls now... that and I don't want to further intrude on 'other things' that I shouldn't. But were there any other things you wanted to discuss with me before I go?"

"Not that I can think of, but I will call if I think of anything." Aqua replied.

"Okay then." Amy took a bow and left the office.

_She should be fine..._ Aqua thought with a smile.

_She seems troubled, but I guess its new mother jitters._ Thought Amy.

Vanilla and company had made it to the park and the media, despite being around, kept a good distance away, Kai's threatening looks were enough to keep them at a good distance.  
"This feels awkward..." Tails sighed.

"They will ruin the mood for us." said Cream.

"Just a moment." And Kai walked toward the media. At this sight, they all ran off.

Vanilla shook her head. _Brute force... that really must be all he knows._ She thought.

It didn't take long, but Kai had cleared the media completely, but this didn't stop the staring from bypassers.  
"I should just go live in a basement away from people..." Tails said.

"Are you becoming emo like Muri was before Kweli was born?" asked Vanilla.

"H-hey..." Muri looked hurt.  
"I didn't know it was wrong to be emotional." Tails said.

"Now girls, I meant no harm. But you two should be happy with yourselves and motherhoods." Vanilla cleared up.

"Choose your words better, Vanilla." Tails told her. "Emo isn't bad, it means emotional. Emos are generally more emotional that normal people."

"You mean than other people." Vanilla said. "And besides, you two need a bit more happiness in your lives."

"Calling us emo and making it sound like a bad thing won't make us happy."  
"Enough already, you're giving me a headache. I cleared the media already, sheesh..." Kai was agitated.

"You sound like you eat a lot of curry." said Cream.

"Curry is good." Kai said. "And I know what you're thinking, 'he must only know how to use violence to solve problems' etc, etc...Yes, because it's the most effective..."

"Great... more mind readers..."

"Actually, I never perfected that trick, even though Hiei tried teaching me." Kai said.

"I should've brought one of my mags."

"Uh huh..." Kai said. "I'll continue the bodyguard work over there." And he walked off.  
"God damn it! Stop staring at me!!!" Tails yelled to some people. "How long is this going to go on...?" Tails looked to the ground.

"Until everyone comes to terms with everything." Vanilla answered. "Remember, Rome wasn't built in one night."  
"Yeah." Cream agreed. "The contractor took the money and ran."

"I wish I could take money and run." Tails sighed.

"Running, and hiding for that matter, is your problem." Vanilla said

"Sorry..." Tails said.  
"It's okay to run, so long as you face your problems eventually." Mighty said.

"Well said." said Vanilla.

"I won't be going back to my so called girlfriend, she can..."  
"That'll do..." Muri said as she patted Mighty on the shoulder.

"So what about you, Kai. Are there any women in your life?" asked Vanilla.

"No." Kai answered.

"I see."

"Should there be?" Kai asked.

"That's on you."

"I haven't looked for love yet."

"No rush..."

"No one'd love me." Muri said.

"Not with that attitude." said Cream.

"I don't see it happening."

"Give yourself more credit."

"Yeah, you're cute." Mighty told Muri.  
"Um...thanks." Muri replied.

"You know what, I think it's time to eat." said Vanilla.

"Yay, food!" Tails grinned cheesily.

"There are children to feed."

"Indeed, born and unborn."

With this said, everyone takes a break to enjoy a meal. "It's good to know there's regular food to enjoy."

"Indeed." Mighty replied. "So, I heard the news that you're the real Tails, but I kinda had my suspicions when we first met."  
"Go away, eating." Tails said between bites.

"Having any problems, Muri?" Vanilla asked.

"No." Muri said, even though she'd not touched her food.

"Is something the matter?"

"I'm not really hungry..." Muri replied.

"I guess you're not really hungry. Is Kweli hungry?"

"He's sleeping." Muri blushed.

"I see."

"Yeah...." Muri looked sad.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing..." Muri lied.

"Kweli isn't allergic, is he?"

"I don't know...Kirika said I was allergic to my moms, so..." And Muri began to cry.

"Well, try nursing him when he's hungry."

"That's not why she's crying..." Tails told Vanilla.

"Why are you crying, Muri?"

"Kirika..." Muri cried.

"We should find Tikal or Shade." Cream suggested.

"I don't...*hic*...I don't wanna say goodbye..." Muri cried.

"I'm not following, sorry." Mighty said.

"It's best not to push this envelope." said Cream.

"Gotcha." Mighty replied, Muri still crying hard. However, Tails stopped eating and went over to her, pulling her into a comforting hug, without putting Kweli in an uncomfortable place.  
"There, there...shhh..." She soothed her.

After 5 minutes, she'd still not calmed down and Vanilla took Kweli away momentarily until she did, which was only a few minutes after and Muri had cried herself to the point where she couldn't cry anymore. Tails took her phone and dialled for Tikal.

A few tones on the phone were heard... "Hello?" Tikal's voice was heard from the other end.

"Hi, Tikal, it's Tails. Where are you at the moment?" Tails asked.

"I'm helping out at Club Rouge. What's wrong?"

"Well...this will probably be the only time I'll ever willingly ask to go, but we all need to go to the old mystic ruins, or as sonic calls it, Happy land." Tails replied.

"Fine, I'll wait here for you girls. See you soon." and Tikal ended the call.

Tails put her phone away. "Well, next stop, Club Rouge."

"Good. Let's get some drinks to boot." said Cream.

"I could do with a few drinks." Kai said.

"Me too." Mighty added.

"I think a good punch would work for Muri too." said Vanilla.

"Alcohol?" Muri asked, with a few hiccups.

"Oh no, regular drinks."

"Oh..." Muri looked down. "I probably wouldn't like it anyway."

And so they left where they were and headed for Rouges club, however, the media decided to bold up and ignored Kai's threats, they weren't going to let Tails escape them, no matter what.

"Kai, your use of force isn't helping." said Vanilla.

"Then go back to your 'persuasion'." Kai retaliated.

"I know you're doing this for Muri's sake, but instead of scaring them off... try catching glimpses of the news stations. It'll help with the lawsuit."

"If hurting them won't stop them, what about destroying their equipment." Kai asked. And at this point, Tails was blasted with a horde of questions.

Cream walked over to the reporters. "You people really are a pain, but the courts will deal with every last one of you." Cream told them.

"We want answers!" The media called, in many ways.

"You want to be sued. No matter, you will all be served eventually. So keep making things worse for yourselves, the judge and jury will eat all of this up."

"We don't fear you." One guy called from the front. Kai grabbed him by the collar.  
"You don't know the meaning of fear, but if you persist in **pissing** me off, you will do." He growled. The reporter gulped.  
"S-sure...I'll go now..." Kai let him go and he ran off. Kai simply looked at the others and they backed away.  
"I'll answer questions later, I don't want to yet." Tails called out. The reporters then looked at each other and walked off, not wanting to be sued or beaten...or both.  
"They'll never give up." Mighty said.

"And Tails isn't going to answer anything." added Vanilla.

"Let's just go before I have a mental breakdown..." Tails said.

"You mean another one?" asked Cream.  
"And this is why I ask about which news stations are doing this." said Vanilla. "Now we better press on, time isn't in our favour."

"Yes, let's..." Tails said, and the gang moved on to Rouge's club, getting there not long after the media buggered off.

After everyone got inside the club, Rouge and Tikal were happy to meet them. "So, how are you girls holding up?" Tikal asked.  
"There are males present." corrected Vanilla.  
"I'm getting tired of the media doing all of this idiocy, they're acting like stalkers." Rouge said.

"We're alright, other than poor Muri." Tails said. "We need to see Kirika."

"Of course." said Tikal.  
"Rouge, do you have pictures of the damages caused by the media frenzy over Tails?" asked Cream.  
"Are you kidding me, I still have X-rays from the bruises I suffered from those assholes, as well as pictures and copies of the police reports." Rouge answered.  
"Those will help in the lawsuit." Vanilla said. "Is this place going to be open anytime soon?"  
"Not really. And I can't stay out of business like this."  
"Well, we'll let Omega and Gmerl watch the place until we get back." said Tikal. But for now, let's get you reunited with your family, Muri."

"I...I....okay..." Muri said. Tails walked over to Vanilla and whispered to her.  
"Is this really a good idea?" She asked.

"I would do the same for you if it were Sally." Vanilla answered.

"I'm only asking, it might cause more pain..."

"Dying family members are never good events." and Vanilla walked over to Muri. "You must understand that my doing this is only so you witness the truth."

"The truth is I'm losing the only one who cared for me before you people..." Muri said.

"But you aren't alone, Muri. And that's something that you should be able to smile upon." said Cream in an attempt to cheer Muri up.

"I'm sorry...I must sound so ungrateful..."

"You aren't ungrateful, but you aren't happy either." said Tikal. "No matter, let's give you your time with Kirika."

"Thank you..." Muri said.

"Let's go, I wanna take pictures." said Cream.  
"I guess a regular camera will work there." said Rouge. "Omega, G, hold the fort while we're away."  
"AFFIRMITIVE." Omega acknowledged.  
"Hold fort, hold fort." Gmerl responded.

After this was said, Tikal and everyone vanished in a flash of light.

As they entered, they were greeted by a dust cloud zooming across the cliff sides.  
"Is Sonic here?" Tails asked.

"Perhaps it's just Rei." Vanilla guessed.

"She's that fast?" Tails asked. As if on cue, Rei leaped down from seemingly nowhere.  
"Hi." she greeted them. "How are you?"

"Decent, if not irritated." Rouge answered.  
"Muri, I will lead you and Kweli to Kirika. Come with me." Tikal said.

"Okay..." Muri replied and followed Tikal.

"So what's your story, sister?" Rouge asked Rei.

"I have a fake mechanical heart and without the support of a highly advanced super computer suit, I die." Rei replied. "However, here I can live freely, without the large extra weight of metal."

"And that's why you're with this crew of ours."

"Excuse me?"

"Tails is a real tech head."

"The most advanced scientists in half the world could only come up with the suit at best..." Rei replied.

"Technology has limits to certain people, right?"

"Tails is smarter than 400 scientists?" Rei questioned.

"She can keep up with a megalomaniac super genius... why not?"

Rei looked confused. "I see..."

"Yeah."

"I can't do anything though, not yet." Tails said.

"Except take care of yourselves." said Cream.

"Well, of course..." Tails said.  
"So, was that rabbit Muri, huh?" Rei asked.

"Yeah, that's Muri." Cream answered.

"Poor girl, she looked rough..."  
"Yeah..." Tails said.

"Uh huh."Cream agreed.

Tikal and Muri walked through the old mystic ruins, Muri was dreading the sight she knew was coming, hoping that somehow Kirika was all better, but that only hurt more knowing this wouldn't be the case. _Why did it have to come to this..? What will I do now?_ She thought. _I can't live without her..._ It was a few moments, but soon Muri's eyes began to tear up as she soon saw Kirika in sight. Tikal lead Muri over and stepped aside, Muri got on her knees next to Kirika and looked at her face.  
"Kirika..? Are you there still?" Muri asked weakly.

"I guess I will leave you to your time with her." said Tikal and off she left.

Muri didn't reply to Tikal, she was too focused on Kirika now.  
"Kirika?" She let out. "S...someone's come to say hello..." She was beginning to falter, and her feelings and sadness betraying her as tears rolled down her cheeks. Kirika didn't respond, but her body continued its breathing.

"I guess you're too far gone to even know I am here." And Muri cried. "I don't want you to go..."

It took a few seconds, Kirika's eyes finally opened. "Muri... Muri, is that you?" Kirika asked.

"Y-yes...I...I'm right here..." Muri cried, trying to calm down.

"Take my hand, dear. You seem so distressed..." Muri does so, but she makes sure to keep Kweli safely in her other arm.

Kirika looks at her niece and sees the baby. "So, who is that?" she asked.

"This is Kweli...he's my son. He wants to meet you." Muri said, she'd finally stopped crying, but she hiccupped now and then.

"You had the bunny already? Let me hold him."

Muri then very carefully gave Kweli to Kirika.

Kirika held Kweli as best as she could, but her weakness was clearly showing. "He's a heavy one." she said.

"I'm sorry..." Muri said. "Shall I lift him?"

"No. This may be the only chance I get to hold my grandnephew, I want to cherish this moment... however possible."

"Isn't there anything we can do to save you? I don't want to be left alone." Muri was near crying again.

"Do you really feel alone?"

"I will without you. I don't know what I'll do without you...you're like the only mother I ever had." Muri cried.

"This saddens me..." Kirika's eyes closed halfway. "What do you think of Vanilla?"

"Vanilla is a lovely person, but she won't replace you. You've always been there for me; I don't want to lose you." Muri hiccups a bit.

"Why would Vanilla replace me?"

"She won't. She won't. She won't." Muri cried.

Kirika took a breath... Though it seemed like Kirika was holding her breath, she actually slipped out of consciousness. After thirty-five seconds, Kirika finally exhaled. "You have everything all wrong." Kirika finally told her crying niece.

"I...I do?" Muri questioned. "Are you okay?"

"Has Vanilla done you wrong in any way?"

"I never said she did, but..."

"Muri, you must learn to rely on others. Vanilla should never be thought of as a replacement for me."

"But...I want to rely on you; it won't be the same without you." Muri said.

"You didn't hear what I just said..."

"I did...but...." Muri then stopped, and paused. "I'm gonna miss you..."

"What did I just tell you?"

"I must learn to rely on others." Muri said.

"Understand that Vanilla loves you, Muri." Kirika sighed. "She will never replace me, but I want you to be able to smile without me."

"I...I'll try..." Muri said.

"Muri, you really should understand that Vanilla loves you, as does Cream. Didn't you feel secure while you were with her and her family?"

"I did. But Nazaruda will find and kill them too. I can't stay with them, knowing that they might be hurt...like you." Muri sniffled.

"Is that your excuse for not wanting to trust them?"

"I trust them." Muri said. "I fear for their safety too..."

"Vanilla and her family and friends know how to handle themselves."

"...yeah, I guess so. I'm being silly..."

"You're shunning yourself from them, Muri." and Kirika gave a few coughs away from Kweli.

"I'm sorry..." Muri lowered her head.

"Here, take Kweli."

And Muri carefully takes Kweli from Kirika. "Are you okay?"

"I'm dying, Muri." Kirika said bluntly, and then sighed. "This is the reason why you feel alone. You're reluctant to trust people who have love for you when you should accept it. If you can't learn to rely on others, you will always feel alone. At this point in time, you will need people to turn to."

"I'm still going to miss you..."

"Of course you will, but you must remember something very important."

"What?"

"Remember that you and Kweli are loved. And because of that, you must always learn how to do three important things..."

"Three?"

"Joy, company and happiness. If you can remember these things, you will be able to smile without me. That's all I ask of you." and Kirika closed her eyes. "Smile, Muri... remember and smile."

"I will..." Muri said. "I promise I will..."

"You're going to be a great mother, I'm sure of it." and Kirika smiled for Muri.

"Goodbye Kirika. I love you, and Kweli does too. Don't forget me in heaven."

Kirika gave no response, she was already gone. As a result, Kweli started crying from the sad moment. Muri gently bucked Kweli and rocked him. "There, there. Everything'll be okay..." Muri cried. "I'm going to miss you Kirika..." And Muri leaned over, still keeping crying Kweli safe, and gave Kirika a kiss on the forehead. "Goodbye..." With that, she stood and walked away.

It took a little time, but she was soon rejoining the other girls.

"Where did Mr Kai go?" She asked.

"No clue, but he didn't get far." Cream answered.

"Well...Okay..." And Muri put on a smile, even if it was clearly not real. "Cream...do you want to hold Kweli a little while?" She asked.

"Gotta take a leak, huh? The privs are that way." and Cream pointed in the direction.

"No...I'm kinda gonna break down on myself and...and..." And the tears began to flow. "Kirika's gone..." She cried.

Cream took Kweli into her left arm, and then wrapped her right arm around Muri. "Losing loved ones is never easy." she said softly.

"So...what happens now?" Tails asked Vanilla.

"Now the hard stuff begins." Vanilla answered.

"Well, I'll do my best to make this as easy as possible for Muri." Tails replied. "What do we do about...um...you know." She asked low toned.

"About." Vanilla asked Tails, also low toned.

"Kirika..."

"That's not for us to decide."

"I see."

"Good."

"C-can we leave now?" Muri asked.

Tails and Vanilla turn their attention to Muri. "And what about Kirika?" Vanilla asked.

"I don't know." Muri replied. "She deserves a proper funeral..."

"Then start with those arrangements."

"I'd like to recover a little first..." Muri looked sad.

"Take as much time as you need."

"I'd like to leave now..."

"But what about recovery?" Cream asked.

"I don't have to stay here to recover..."

"Well, I will leave you and the girls to prepare funeral arrangements." Vanilla said. "Tails, Cream, see to it that Muri gets the help she needs."

"So I don't get to leave?" Muri frowned.

"Not in this state."  
"Cheer up, girl. I know a few things that'll help with everything." said Rouge. "I can even assist in writing a eulogy." Muri doesn't reply.

Tikal finally rejoins the group. "Well, I see everything is starting to go into closure." she said.

"Um, I have a question. Is my ticker limited here?" Rei asked.

"How do you mean?" Tikal addressed Rei.

"Well, in the real world, without my suit, I can live for about 3 minutes." Rei said. "I wondered how long I have here."

"How long have you been here?" asked Cream.

"I'll assume I have no limit then." Rei sighed. "I just wish it were the same for the real world."

_She wants a normal life._ thought Vanilla. "Tikal, I need to return to Station Square, there is urgent business that I must take care of." she said.  
"Sure, I can do that." said Tikal. And afterwards, I can begin to preserve Kirika's body."

"Well, let's go and sit by the lake, Muri." Tails said, taking Muri by the hand. "Coming Cream?"

"I think I'll let you two deal with things for a while." Cream answered. "I'll babysit Kweli while you two chat."

"Sure, it'd be good for you to get to know your new nephew." Tails smiled.

"Ready to go, Vanilla?" asked Tikal.  
"Yes." Vanilla answered.  
"And you don't have to worry about limits here, Rei."

"That's good." Rei sighed in relief.  
"I assume that Muri is very safe here, right?" Kai asked.

"Not many people can access this place." Tikal answered. "Many have tried and ended up being stuck in limbo."

"Good, then I need to leave also. I have business elsewhere I need to take care of."

"Come on...." Kai joined up with Tikal and Vanilla, then the three were gone in a flash of light.

Tikal, Kai and Vanilla all arrived in Station Square.  
"Right, I'll come back to find you when I am finished with my business. I'll be as quick as I can." And Kai takes his leave.

"Make sure Muri get's helped out." Vanilla told Tikal, then went down the street.

"Will do." And Tikal vanished. Vanilla wondered around a little, before a limo pulled up next to her. Afterwards, two suits exit the car.  
"Excuse me ma'am. Are you Vanilla Rabbit?" One asked.

"I'm Chocolate." Vanilla answered.

"We're very busy ma'am, we're not here for jokes." The other suit said.  
"You'll have to come with us, if you don't mind." said the first.

"And this is about?"

"We prefer not to disclose the information on the streets."  
"We represent the Guardian Unit of Nations. It involves some new friends of yours." The suits told her.

"Great, the military..." Vanilla rolled her eyes.

"Ma'am, if you please." And they opened the back door of the Limo for her.

_This will either prove frustrating, or become an ennui._ Vanilla thought and approached the car. "I didn't think G.U.N had suits." she said. "But seriously, get some Armani. I can make better suits in my free time than that crap from the bargain ranch that you guys are wearing." and Vanilla enters the car.

The suits then close the door behind her and enter the front once again, driving off.

It took a few minutes, but the car finally stopped and the door was opened for Vanilla, this time by a soldier.  
"Ma'am, if you'd like to follow me, the General is waiting." He said.

Vanilla didn't respond, but she simply followed instructions.

It was a short walk, but she was led to a well guarded office, upon entering, the 'General' was sat waiting in his chair.  
"Aah, Mrs Vanilla, please take a seat. We have much to discuss." He said.

"Start discussing." said Vanilla.

"We've been getting reports that _you_, someone who claims to represent Sonic the Hedgehog and his friend, have been in contact with a small merc group wanted for Criminal Warfare." The General said. "We want your services."

"Merc group?" asked Vanilla.

"Ah, playing ignorance. The leader is known as a man called Hiei. He and his 'employee's' cause a large cost to the state destroying objects and buildings doing war with 3 other organisations." The General explained.

"Aha..."

"I bet you're wondering why we have not arrested them for it."

"I don't care, but at least I now know what he does for a living." Vanilla said honestly. "And for the record, we aren't friends."

"Either way, you were involved in a 'gang war' that causes injuries and damages to properties. We are willing to give you a complete pass, if you help us down both Hiei's Shadow Clan and the main problem in Radical City, Rexchus." The General said.

Vanilla laughed. "Explain my involvement."

"You appear to find this amusing."

"No, I find you are in the same tribe as Chief Fulla Bull."

"I guess that means you want to pay your share of damages."

"Listen up, 'General'. You have yet to explain my involvement, but you wanna give me a bill?"

"What's the point in giving you an explanation of involvement when you think it's 'bull'?"'

"That means I have no further reason to be here. Now be a gentleman and fetch the door. I'm a busy woman and I don't have time for your games."

"Very well, you'll be billed for ten thousand." The General said. "Show her the door." And he turned his seat around.

"You can't bill me, I didn't do squat."

"Does that mean you will co-operate?"

"That means the bill will only be ripped up." and Vanilla heads for the door.

"In that case, you'll suffer either reclamation of your property, or maybe even prison. I've not decided yet."

The General turned around. "Just so you know, you'd gather information on the next large battle, to which we will ambush and mass arrest anyone involved, yourself not included."

"No wonder you guys got your asses handed to you by the Black Arms, your sources and resources are unreliable. Now if you'll excuse me, I have business to deal with. And tell your suits to get better clothing than that bargain ranch crap."

"I'm sure you'll reconsider sooner or later. Give the repomen my regards."

Vanilla left the room and was escorted off of the premises. Thirty feet down the street, Vanilla removed a cleverly placed tape recorder. "Nice try, hotshot." she said to herself. "Your repomen will get these words played, followed by a pamphlet."

Hours passed and Vanilla was at home working in her room. After the "conversation" with G.U.N took place, Vanilla managed to take matters into her own hands. With thanks to a few calls, and a nagging reporter, Vanilla managed to tell her experience of what happened to the news. "I'll take a break and watch the news." she said and turned on the television.

"Next up, military blackmail has reached a new low. Our interviewers managed to come across a Vanilla Rabbit and she gave an interview on what had happened to her." the reporter said.  
"Now keep in mind that her word is credible due to the fact that this same woman plans to sue us, but we did have the time to hear a recording. Have a listen." said another reporter.

At this time, the tape began to play. " 'Either way, you were involved in a 'gang war' that causes injuries and damages to properties. We are willing to give you a complete pass, if you help us down both Hiei's Shadow Clan and the main problem in Radical City, Rexchus.'  
*laughter* 'Explain my involvement.'  
'You appear to find this amusing.'  
'No, I find you are in the same tribe as Chief Fulla Bull.'

"'I guess that means you want to pay your share of damages.'  
'Listen up, General. You have yet to explain my involvement, but you wanna give me a bill?'  
'What's the point in giving you an explanation of involvement when you think it's bull?'  
'That means I have no further reason to be here. Now be a gentleman and fetch the door. I'm a busy woman and I don't have time for your games.'  
'Very well, you'll be billed for ten thousand.' " and the recording was stopped here.  
"That's pretty deep." said one reporter.  
"Indeed." said the other reporter.

"What did G.U.N have to say on this?"  
"We sent a reporter to G.U.N and a spokesperson had this to say. 'Despite her defiance in cooperating with us, Vanilla is simply avoiding the fact that she was involved in a criminal act. She, like others, will be persecuted to the full extent of the law.' And I for one hope Vanilla Rabbit does get prosecuted."  
Vanilla nearly wigged out. "Bullshit ass G.U.N, I should've known they would play it off." she said.

"So you realise the idiocy of your actions." Said a voice from behind Vanilla, despite the fact she was the only one home.

"G.U.N failed to disclose proof, yet I have to pay?" asked Vanilla.

"You sent a report to complain about blackmail to those you threatened to sue. Not only have you done that, but you have exposed my group, the only ones capable of keeping Rexchus in place, due to the fact G.U.N is incompetent." And Hiei walked out of the shadows. "The only good that came of this is knowing G.U.N's plan to ambush us."

"You could've told me that you were a mercenary, but I had to learn the hard way." said Vanilla.

"I mentioned I do anything to pay the bills, mostly." Hiei said.

"Since the assholes in the military think I'm working for you, when I clearly am not, my promises have become even harder." and Vanilla crossed her arms.

"The Military make ridiculous accusations, people don't work for me due to force, but because they want to. You would not. I'll sort out G.U.N's little 'accusations' and that bill of yours, and I still owe you one favour, since this is just a simple misunderstanding on G.U.N's part, I will still help you get Irum." Hiei said.

"You've said too much. But who cares... I guess being underwater without an oxygen tank isn't so bad... even if I am drowning. Helping me get her will finally make us even."

"You also need to stop trying to sue everyone; you'll make a lot of enemies fast." Hiei said.

"I don't want to know what you plan to do about G.U.N, nor do I care. I'm almost done with things, then I'll be ready to move on with my other promises."

"Those being?"

"To Sonic and company. And to think, we could've all been friends and had a picnic together... now everyone wants to be arrested by G.U.N and give each of us boy/girlfriends named Bubba."

"Actually, until your idiotic little ploy to try and win one over the World Military, we were only 2 weeks away from clearance. We might be considered criminals, but we don't kill or purposefully hurt those who don't deserve it. We don't steal, nor do we do criminal actions on purpose for amusement, we just try to stop people like Nazaruda, and just happen to do it regardless of consequence." Hiei explained. "We're not heroes like your friend Sonic, nor do we want to be. We just know who we need to take out to make sure that the world doesn't fall to chaos, and we take actions you and your friends wouldn't even consider."

"Fine, so be it. I'm done with all of this nonsense. Tomorrow, I plan on turning myself in to G.U.N so I can get rid of this nonsense." Vanilla said with a sigh.

"Don't be an idiot." Hiei said.

"I'm not being an idiot, Hiei. I'm just putting the welfare important people before my own. It's a promise I made, nothing personal."

"Kirika was wrong to trust you I see." Hiei said.

"This wasn't her promise."

"No, but taking care of Muri was, and you handing yourself over to G.U.N prevents you from doing that." Hiei sighs. "You do realise that your little attempt to top G.U.N has revealed to us their plan of ambush, ruining the only chance you were given to get out scot free. I'll pay them the cash sum that you apparently owe, then when you're ready, we'll get Irum. Then we disappear and won't bother you again. How's that?"

"You really do say too much. But who cares, right? And so you know, G.U.N wouldn't ruin their plan by putting me in jail. Now if you don't mind, I don't need you to watch me like I'm a toddler." Vanilla told Hiei.

"Women..." And Hiei takes his leave.

The evening came and Vanilla continued working on things. As she wiped the sweat from her brow, she stood up from the microscope and smiled. _It's finished. I have done it and it works, it really works._ She thought. Vanilla finished making the vaccine and placed the vial of white coloured liquid up for safe keeping, then cleaned everything up. _Now, all that's left is for me to finally fulfil my promises._ Vanilla enjoyed her tea as she sat at the kitchen table. The night was warm and she had finally done what was meant of her. "Well, now all that's left is to make sure they get to live a normal life." Vanilla said to herself as she sipped her tea. "I really need a new nightgow-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the door to her apartment was busted in and G.U.N soldiers stormed the place with Assault rifles at the ready. "What in the-" Vanilla managed to say.  
"Vanilla Rabbit, you are under arrest on accounts of aiding criminals wanted by the military, destruction of public and private property, and slander." one of the soldiers explained. "Our orders are to bring you in... dead or alive, your choice."  
"_Dumbass General._ You won't let me change my clothes I guess?" Vanilla asked.  
"You're fine, now let's go."  
Vanilla finished her cup of tea, then stood up for the soldiers. "And to think, I was gonna turn myself in the next morning..."

Vanilla went peacefully with the G.U.N soldiers, she didn't raise any complaint, nor form of protest. And as the soldiers left with Vanilla in their custody, Hiei stood from a distance... watching the whole process.

"So...the Military wants war do they?" He spoke to himself. "Looks like I have a new enemy." And he fades away in the shadows.


	30. Chapter 30

((A/N: To avoid confusion, the Blaze which Hiei refers to is not the same lavender cat from Sonic Rush, it is someone else entirely.))

The next day, Muri, Tails and Cream were just about done with the arrangements for Kirika's funeral. And although the task was painstaking, Muri wanted Kirika's wishes fulfilled. "We're just about done." Muri said. "I have to thank you for the help, I appreciate it."

"No problem." Tails said. "I'm glad I was able to help out."

"It's good to know that I have friends..."

Cream observed Muri and Tails as she assisted in the process of preparing Kirika's funeral. _Muri really is going through a lot._ She thought. _If this was me and my mom was dead, I'd be so hurt by now... but I guess she's coping with Tails. Good for her._

Tikal walked by with a TV in her hands. "Hey everyone, look what I found." she said.

"Sweet, a tube." said Tails.

"I thought electronics couldn't work here..." Cream said with a confused expression on her face.

"You're right, but I used the power of the Old Master Emerald to run this one..." Tikal explains. "Besides, I think it's time to take your minds off of things."

Tikal turned on the Television and it was currently on the news. "In other news today, we will report on Vanilla Rabbit." the anchorman began. "Apparently, she's getting hers as we speak. Last Night, G.U.N soldiers raided her place and took her into custody. From what we know, Vanilla is an accomplice to a mercenary group known as the Shadow Clan and was seen fleeing the scene of a gang war with a rival mercenary group where major public damages were reported."

Rei was not happy to hear this. "Bullshit, that isn't what happened at all!" she growled.

"Oh no..." Muri trailed off.

The anchorman continued. "No offense to Vanilla Rabbit's family as I say this, but just desserts are a bittersweet treat. Vanilla is currently being detained at G.U.N until the matter is fully resolved. We'll inform you with more information as this story develops."

"On a similar note," the anchorwoman said, "the news station's high priced lawyers of ours and from other news stations threatened by Vanilla's lawsuits in response to the outing of Miles 'Tails' have this report that they want us to read. 'Mrs. Rabbit. Due to your recent mishaps from current events, it would be best that you simply chose not to, and for your own good, choose simply not to go through with your case against our news station. Should you continue to do so, the jury will not be as forgiving as we are when the trial arrives.' And that of course probably won't happen if Vanilla Rabbit is doing-" Cream turned off the TV before the news anchor could finish.

"Vanilla in a mercenary group, impossible." Tails said. "There's no motive to this."

"Military forces... someone should check their Intel." said Rei.

"Does that mean you're going to the media to give your testimony as to what really happened?" Cream questioned Rei.

Rei didn't respond, but simply walked away from the group. "Weren't you there when this happened, Tikal?" asked Tails.

"I would help, but I know they wouldn't believe me." Tikal answered. "My testimony is conflicting."

_Conflicting my ass._ Tails and Cream thought.

"I'll talk to Rei, perhaps I can get her to change her mind." and Tikal pursued Rei.

Muri was just about ready to cry again. "I can't deal with this, not now." She said while fighting back tears. "Vanilla is all I have left as far as a guardian goes... And with her in military custody..." tears were streaming from her eyes.

Tails took Kweli from Muri's arms. "I will give Kweli a bath." she said.

"Thanks." Muri said.

Tails walked away with Kweli in her arms as Muri stood there. Once they were a safe distance, Muri's vulnerability took its tool and she began to wail. Cream approached Muri and slapped her hard across the left side of her face, causing Muri to fall to her knees. Stunned and still showing tears, Muri looked at Cream, whose stern expression said it all. For a good 115 seconds, the does looked at each other and said nothing. Finally, Muri stood up, eyes still locked on Cream. "You've been waiting to do that to me for quite some time, haven't you?" she questioned Cream.

Meanwhile at G.U.N, Vanilla sat in her room being detained and grilled. However, things weren't going too well and a certain general had to be removed from the room. After a few minutes, another young military man entered the room with Vanilla and sat across from her. "I'm the Colonel." he introduced himself. "Vanilla, you really are in hot water right now."

"That's where your wrong, Colonel." Vanilla answered. "The only one that's about to have what is known as a, 'hot block' is you and everyone else at G.U.N."

"You see, threats like that that is what got you into trouble in the first place."

"Go get the Major. It seems you're the General's idiot-in-training and I don't have time for your nonsense."

"On a couple of contraries, Vanilla. My methods are more civilized then General's and you're looking at a lot of time from these charges held against you."

"I'll be out in three days tops."

"I like you're flawed thinking, reminds me of General's. Now let's try this again. I want to know how you and Hiei became friends."

"Hiei and I are not friends, nor do we work together like your failed Intel has informed you."

"Funny, because a picture is worth a thousand dollars." and the Colonel tosses the pictures to Vanilla.

Vanilla looks at the pictures, then places them on the table. "Is this it? This is what you're basing your Intel off of?"

"It's good enough... But I want to hear your part of this bargain." the Colonel said.

"These pictures are inconclusive... and you need to fire your photographer. Shitty ass pictures like this come from hippies who watch too much MIB."

"So let's take away the charges and the raiding of your place for a moment and reverse the clock here. How did you meet up with Hiei?"

"Lamaze class."

"Lamaze class?"

"I was taking Tails to her Lamaze class and he was there with his wife. He didn't say much and seemed uninterested in things. His wife needed a bit of help with things, so I helped her out when he couldn't. As a result, he owed me one."

"So that was how you joined the Shadow Clan?"

"I'm not part of this Shadow Clan. In fact, I didn't know about him being a mercenary until your General filled me in and decided to plant bogus charges on me."

"That was a lot of damage that you fled from."

"I was taking his wife to the hospital, in addition to leading some of the workers of his wife's shop out of harm's way. And because of that, I get an accessory charge by your idiot military?"

"There you go getting out of order again."

"This discussion is over. You will release me tomorrow and drop not only my charges, but also that unruly fine on my record."

"The guilty aren't in any position to make demands, Vanilla." and the Colonel left her alone.

Vanilla sat back in her chair with her arms folded. "Such pitiful Intel." she said. "Colonel may want to try running my file to see who I am and what I do. Once he does, even G.U.N will have to stand down and release me. But I guess he's just as stupid as that General, so maybe you people on the other side of the mirror will run my file."

*

The next day, Cream was walking around Station Square and noticed reporters on the street. She decided to find Amy and get a better sense of things. "Sorry Cream, but the media laughed at me when I told them what happened." Amy said.

"Great. Well, at least you came forward, unlike Rei." said Cream.

"Rei has... issues."

"Like I care. I plan on getting my mom out of G.U.N custody, then once this is done..."

"Slow down, this won't help either of you." Amy said. "Listen, the only way you plan on dealing with G.U.N is... Well, you already saw how they covered up Vanilla's 'protest', so you're pretty much screwed."

"_Wrong._ Only one person can help me with this scenario."

As if her words were heard, here came the reporters ready to bombard Cream with mics, cameras and light. Luckily, Amy managed to get out of dodge before they caught her on film. "Ms. Rabbit, Ms. Rabbit, we have a few questions regarding what has happened to your mother." the reports said.

What Cream didn't realize was that this impromptu cast was heard and seen by Vanilla. "So, G.U.N raided my place and arrested my mom." the young rabbit began. "For the record, G.U.N used too much force to take my mom in. Also, my mother Vanilla Rabbit has never been, nor never was involved in mercenary activities. All of this is from an overblown proportion and I will address the media later this week in a live interview. So until then, write your questions down and save them for the press conference date. Thank you."

Vanilla shook her head. "That's my baby." she said. "Even when things look bad, she still remains polite."

"I think she's covering your tracks." in walk the Colonel and General. "Frankly, we have enough of her involvement on public damages to take the young lady into custody, but I hope that it doesn't go that far." said the Colonel.

Vanilla laughed. "If you aren't here to release me, then don't waste your breath." she told the men.

"Have it your way." said the General. "Colonel, let's go, we have a young rabbit to take into custody." and the two men left.

Vanilla shook her head. _And the block begins to heat up._ Vanilla thought.

In an undisclosed location, Hiei stood looking over a ravine. "Hiei, G.U.N appears ready to take all of us into custody and lock that woman up for a long time." said Kai.

"If the military wants to attempt to fail at capturing us, let them." said Hiei. "As for Vanilla... let her rot. I tried to pick up her tab and help her out, but she's too busy trying to make her promises... promises that she can't keep all while making enemies around every corner."

"But you do owe her, Hiei. She did help Aqua with the delivery of my nieces."

"I offered to break even and she chose to keep to her pitiful promises. That is not my concern at the moment."

"Then let's deal with G.U.N and take out their headquarters before they can mount an assault against us."

"Unwise. I do want to hear how the young doe plans on making things run with that press conference."

"Noted."

"Any word on Rei?"

"Still with the echidna talk show hostess. Should I collect her?"

"No, let her come to her terms. Rei has done much and I will let her have this moment. Everyone needs their moment; I still remember when you needed yours."

"Let's not bring that up."

"Contact Blaze, we will need his tactical knowledge."

"I'm on it." and Kai took his leave.

_G.U.N may be the military, but it will take more than Military Law to stop me._ Hiei thought. _Vanilla, you had better come to your senses before Muri's life is compromised again._

Cream went to Club Rouge to obtain the help she needed. "So you want me to set up a press conference regarding what's going on with Vanilla and G.U.N?" asked Rouge.

"It's the only way I will be able to clear her name." Cream answered.

"Wasn't Amy around during all of this?"

"She gave her testimony, but was mocked at after she explained the part where everyone was taken to Tikal's place."

"That does make sense..."

"Rouge, please? You're the only one I can turn to right now who has this kind of pull."

"With everything going on, G.U.N may try to apprehend you."

"For what?"

"They think you're covering Vanilla's tracks."

"This is why the military sucks. G.U.N is a big A-S-S... no offense, Rouge."

"None taken." and Rouge finished making a malt beverage. "Still, I wanna get some restitution from the media for tearing up my place. And if Vanilla's behind bars, I can't do that. All right, I'll see what I can do for you. I won't make any promises, but I will try."

"Thank you Rouge, I really need this."

What Cream and Rouge didn't know was that Honey had heard everything. "Cream truly is a good daughter." she said to herself and walked off. "I wonder if Tails is okay... maybe I should talk with her."

*

Rouge began to work her strings in hopes of getting a conference room for Cream and was successful. With the arrangements in mind, Rouge relayed back to Cream for her addressing the public. With this, she began writing out her say on things that have happened as of late. As far as things are concerned with Muri, the two doe's finally see eye to eye and all bad blood (if there was any) has been drained from the system. With a bit of practicing and a few mock rehearsals, it was finally time for things to come full circle for Cream. "Good luck, you're going to need it." said Muri.

"Thanks." Cream answered. "Where's Kweli?"

"Tails has him. I don't mind really, she practically assisted with the delivery."

"Y-yeah... that is true. Well, good night."

"Good night."

Cream retired to her hut and Muri went to go and check on Kweli. When she got there, Muri found Tails had Kweli on her round bump. "Getting in your practice, huh?" asked Muri.

"Not right now." Tails answered. "This is bonding time at the moment."

Muri was confused. "I don't follow."

"They're playing."

Muri wanted to respond, but didn't. Instead, took a look at how Kweli was moving his little hands around Tails' bump. To her amazement, Muri noticed the belly activity going on and Kweli was understanding the entire process. _To think, Lavender isn't even born yet and Kweli's communicating with her._ she thought. _Maybe this is what Vanilla saw when Tails and I introduced our swollen bellies to each other. No one would've foreseen that I would deliver Kweli later that day, but it's still..._ Muri paused her thought to see that the two were done playing. Kweli made his baby coos and then all of a sudden... managed to get his hand to pull down Tails' top, exposing her chest.

Tails was slightly embarrassed at this point and Muri laughed at it a bit. "You know, this wasn't a laughing matter." she told Muri with a blush on her face.

"Well, at least we know Kweli likes you." said Muri.

"I guess you're going to bed, huh?"

"In a few." and Muri sat next to Tails. "Say Tails, I was wondering something. What do you think the future holds for them?"

"For who?" asked Tails.

"Our kids. What do you think the future holds for them?"

"Who's to say? I'm no fortune teller and I can't predict anything."

"That is true."

Tails passed Kweli back to Muri to fix her top. "Man, I gotta get better tops. this one was way too open for my taste."

"You'll be fine."

"I hope so."

"Hey little guy, did you have fun?" Muri asked Kweli.

Kweli responded with coos and by flailing his arms. "I'm shocked to know that he actually got a response from Lavender like that."

"Yeah." Suddenly, Kweli starts to have a fit. "Awww, someone's sleepy..." said Muri.

"Looks like you're heading for bed after all. said Tails.

Kweli reaches out for Tails. "I guess he wants to say good night to you."

"Eh, why not."

Muri passes Kweli back to Tails. "Well, give my boy wishful dreams then."

"Hey Kweli, I guess you wanna say good night, huh?" Tails asked with a smile. "Well I hope you have some very good dreams."

Kweli was still having a fit. "I guess he doesn't want to go."

"I got an idea."

"Really, try it."

Tails held Kweli to her heart and started slowly cradling him. However, the next par shocked both girls. Kweli managed to expose Tails' chest again, further embarrassing the fox and bringing laughs to Muri, but the young buck had a stiff upper lip and an open mouth. Both girls had a blush on their face, but Muri's was a deeper red than Tails' blush was. "This is unexpected." Tails said.

"Very..." Muri agreed. "Well, don't tease him... practice."

"Fine, but let's not tell Tikal."

"Agreed."

As weird as this appeared for both girls, Tails simply complied with Muri's suggestion. She drew Kweli close and rubbed his upper gums with her nipple, then he latched in two seconds to Tails' breast and started suckling. "Oh yeah, Kweli really likes you." said Muri.

"Just so you know, you're gonna do this with Lavender too." said Tails.

"You sure?"

"You'll still be nursing once Lavender is born."

Muri shook her head. "Deal."

*

The conference meeting finally arrived and the many reporters for the various news stations were there. Even a few members of G.U.N were present at this conference. With everything said, Cream stood on unsettled nerves as she had her notes in hand and ready to address the press. _Well, this isn't going to be a mercy plea._ She thought. _This isn't going to be an attack, this isn't going to be the beginning of a war against G.U.N or otherwise. This is simply my stating facts and answering questions. Now, let's get this done. A lot of questions answered and let things go._ With a deep breath and a glance at the clock, which read 10:30, Cream stepped out and addressed the media. Once she stood in front of the podium, she took a breath and gave a bow to her audience. "Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and everyone watching this where they stand." Cream gave her opening address to the people. "Now before I take questions, I want to clear things up to anyone who forgot. This conference is addressing the topic of one Vanilla Rabbit. Questions not concerning Vanilla Rabbit will be ignored, this way, no one's time, including the time of the aforementioned media watching this conference isn't wasted and all related matters stay true to why you are here to listen to me. A few evenings ago, Vanilla Rabbit was arrested in her home on charges of slander, aiding criminals wanted by the military and collateral damages.

"G.U.N has issued statements linking her to a group of mercenaries known as the Shadow Clan, and believe that she is one of these said members. However, this isn't true at all. It has come to my attention, based on how I was informed by the news, that she is an accomplice to the alleged leader of the Shadow Clan. It has also been claimed that my 'crusade' is simply being done to cover Vanilla's tracks. But this is closer to heresy than it is truth... and that is why I stand before all of you today. I stand here not only to give answers, but also to receive answers for my own well being. With that said, let's take on some flood waters from all of you. I'll begin with Andrew Martin from Channel 12."

Andrew stands up. "Good morning Ms. Rabbit." he began. "G.U.N has issued a statement where Vanilla and the leader of the Shadow Clan, whose name is unknown, met not only with your mother, but also with yourself. How exactly did Vanilla come and yourself into contact with said leader?"

"Said leader was in the same Lamaze class in which Vanilla took my friend to." Cream answered. "I was present during one of the classes, yet introduction was for the sole purpose of the Lamaze class only. When Vanilla was to be unable to attend due to ill health or other circumstances, I was to be backup Lamaze coach for my friend."

"And your friend has been confirmed as Miles Prower... for purpose of the Lamaze class?"

"Correct. But remember what I had previously said."

"During that time, were there any signs of collaboration between Vanilla and said Shadow Clan leader?"

"None whatsoever."

"Thank you, miss."

"Right. Let's go to Sharmelle Law of the Daily Square Times."

Sharmelle stands up. "Good morning. Sources confirmed that Vanilla had external business with said Shadow Clan leader and his partner. What can you tell us about this external business?"

"Vanilla acts as a marriage counsellor." Cream answered. "Said Shadow Clan leader and his partner had a few non-agreeable minutes and Vanilla brought level ground towards the two. From what I know, the couple is back on tranquil terms."

"I see. Thank you miss."

"Right. Let's go to Charles Murphee of National Media."

"Thank you. Charlie Murphee of National Media... I want to touch on Vanilla fleeing the scene of the crime based on her collateral damage charge. Was it true that she was aiding criminals in leaving the crime scene?"

"Negative. Vanilla was simply trying to evacuate the premises with a few of the workers at the salon."

"And the part in the report based on Amy Rose where she quote, 'Was transported in a flash of light to an undisclosed area of the Mystic Ruins.' Is this due to hidden technology or a 'Magical friend' as suggested by the media?"

"Everyone was teleported to safety."

Upon hearing this, the audience began to laugh. "This is preposterous, no one can teleport in a flash of light. This response from you shows all of us that the means of escape are inconclusive." Charles stated.

"As many of you believe. Let's go to-"

"Hold on, you didn't answer the question."

"Charlie, your basis on this being inconclusive has no backing. The transportation was probably a form of Chaos Control. I will confirm the actual reasoning behind that for you in a later report."

"Later is unacceptable. You just don't want to admit that you really are trying to cover up your mother's tracks." Sharmelle stated. "You're probably in on the escape to this attack as well."

"Yeah, we want some answers." Charles added.

The situation soon got out of hand and the audience erupted in anger. "Stop this, all of you!" was yelled. It was at this moment where Honey the Cat appeared from behind the curtain and stood next to Cream at the podium.

"Honey, what are you doing here?" asked a shocked Cream.

"Giving my testimony." Honey answered. "I was there and witnessed the entire account."

The media soon came to order and a reporter stood to his feet. "Shannon Shark, of Megalo Media." he announced himself. "Honey, if you witnessed the entire incident, why are you just now coming forward with this? And how come you didn't give a testimony earlier?"

"Because you media people would've had things turned the wrong way thanks to G.U.N's pricey suits. Also, I was hoping not to get involved so this would blow over... but apparently, that wasn't the case."

"Then tell us the events of the situation."

"Gladly." Cream soon moved away from the mics to let Honey take the podium. "Vanilla entered the building of said leader's business for a follow-up on the dispute with her partner. She was also in the process of helping the leader's partner with her pregnancy, which is part of her job as an ambassador of M.O.M."

"M.O.M, you mean the global organization that assists pregnant and new mothers?" asked Charles.

"That's correct. Vanilla Rabbit is an ambassador of M.O.M, in addition to working as a marriage counsellor, and in the field of fertility. She also works to ensure equal rights to these aforementioned women and their unborn and newly born children."

"My mom is an ambassador and does all of that?" asked a shocked Cream.

"You didn't know?"

"Mom doesn't discuss that part of work."

"It's all on her M.O.M file. She works with women who want to become pregnant, are pregnant, and are close to giving birth. She also works in the R & D branch of M.O.M and has made it possible for women to conceive children with a high success rate. Anyhow, during the follow-up with the partner of said Shadow Clan Leader, a member of another group, a female, had an argument which turned physical. As a result, it caused Vanilla's client to go into premature labour. Following the training given at M.O.M, Vanilla was trying to get said partner medical attention. However, a mercenary war ensued. Vanilla led the said partner and a few employees of the safe a safe distance while heading towards the hospital. I soon found that the other group was the rival group to the Shadow Clan and wanted said leader's partner and her unborn child to gain advantage. As a result, they pursued Vanilla and the said partner.

"They never made it to the hospital as the rival group prevented them from making it to the hospital. As a result of the attacks, One member of the evacuees was critically injured."

"I'll cut in to say that the member critically injured has died in the process." Cream said.

"She died?"

"Yes."

"I found out after everything was cleaned up that the rival group was called Rexchus." Honey continued. "Apparently led by someone who has a long history with the Shadow Clan leader. Vanilla and said Shadow Clan leader's partner were warped away using Chaos Control where medical attention was received."

"So what of the partner, is she still pregnant?" asked Shannon.

"Unknown." Cream answered.

"Vanilla went to check on the partner, who is her client a few days later. She was then approached by members of G.U.N and brought in for questioning. From what was heard on the news, ranging on that fine, G.U.N informed Vanilla of the bogus charges as to why she is held."

"So let me clear this up." asked Andrew. "G.U.N resorted to a raiding arrest to an ambassador for pregnant women, children and their rights on bogus charges that she shouldn't even be charged to her?"

"Exactly. And it these noble actions make her an accomplice to a mercenary group, and then something is dramatically wrong here. Vanilla isn't a mercenary, and based on current events, her charge on slander has been proven otherwise."

"Now hold on, you can't say that about us at G.U.N, even if you are in a clothing line." said the Colonel.

"Actually..." and Honey pulls out a badge that depicts an arch with a foetus in the loop. "I am here on behalf of M.O.M and I am issuing an order to have Vanilla Rabbit be released and Cleared of all her charges."

"That's a compromise of events by you showing that. Vanilla Rabbit will continue to be held by us, the Guardian Unit of Nations. And this conference is over."

With this, things began to clear out in the media. Cream sighed, she felt defeated. "Chin up, Cream. There's no need to cry." Honey said.

"But my Mom..." Cream trailed off.

"Cream, the unlawful detaining of an ambassador is not going to sit well. And this conference was heard all around the world. Trust me; the Matriarch's Organization of Motherhood will have Vanilla released no later than noon tomorrow. And based on this crime, G.U.N will probably be forced to release her by nightfall."

"Don't count on it." said the General. "It'll take more than a bunch of bra-burners to stop the military."

"You're dealing with M.O.M, General. Not a bunch of bra-burner man haters... Let's go, Cream, we have work to do."

"Right." and Honey and Cream took their leave. "General, I suggest you pray."

*

Three hours have passed and Vanilla gave no response to the General and Colonel's interrogation methods. "This is useless, she isn't going to talk." said the Colonel.

"Agreed." said the General. "We're done holding her, lock her up."

All of a sudden, protest chanting was heard. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Gentlemen, your block is officially hot." Vanilla said as she exited the holding room.

"You bra burners won't stop us. This is a waste of time." said the Colonel.

"You might want to look outside, not-so-gentlemen."

The military men looked outside to see a sea of M.O.M members and supporters. Things were not looking well for G.U.N and their military might. "What do we want?!" someone yelled.

"Ambassador Vanilla's release from unlawful military rule!" the crowd yelled.

"When do we want it?!"

"NOW!"

"What do we want?!"

"Ambassador Vanilla's release from unlawful military rule!"

"When do we want it?!"

"NOW!"

"What do we want?!"

"Ambassador Vanilla's release from unlawful military rule!"

"When do we want it?!"

"NOW!"

"What do we want?!"

"Ambassador Vanilla's release from unlawful military rule!"

"When do we want it?!"

"NOW!"

"What do we want?!"

"Ambassador Vanilla's release from unlawful military rule!"

"When do we want it?!"

"NOW!"

"What do we want?!"

"Ambassador Vanilla's release from unlawful military rule!"

"When do we want it?!"

"NOW!"

"What do we want?!"

"Ambassador Vanilla's release from unlawful military rule!"

"When do we want it?!"

"NOW!"

The protest continued. "Sir, the crowd is 75% pregnant women." a soldier reported.

"Well don't just stand there, arrest them?" said the General.

"But it's a non-violent protest."

"Get the gas then."

"You are going to gas protesting pregnant women?!" Vanilla yelled. "You really do have no shame."

"Hey General, your daughter is in the crowd." said the Colonel.

"What?!" the General shouted and looked out. Two seconds of scanning and he saw his daughter, baby bump and all.

Vanilla laughed. "Look at that, a worldwide organization that assists women who want to become pregnant, are pregnant, have newborns and infants, and the rights of those women and children have forced the 'Almighty' Guardian Unit of Nations into a wall." Vanilla taunted the Colonel and General. "Against threats from other countries, G.U.N stands tall, but against a bunch of pregnant and non-pregnant women, you fold like paper. Now are you going to release M.O.M's active ambassador, or are you going to draw this out? Now mind you, there are doctors present and there was a time where the mothers of M.O.M gave birth at the protest area to get their point across, which was successful."

"Live birth?" asked the Colonel.

"M.O.M vs. G.U.N, and the winner is M.O.M by a landslide."

The General and Colonel growled at Vanilla, they knew they were defeated. Vanilla simply left the three men and headed for the door. "This is an embarrassing moment in G.U.N history." said the Colonel. "The military was beaten by a sea of preggos and MILFs."

"And there are news crews covering this whole situation." added the General. "This time, we won't be able to wash our hands of things."

Vanilla soon stepped out of G.U.N to the sea of cheering women and the crowd dissolved ten minutes later. "It's good to know Vanilla was set free." said Tails.

"We should do more protests like this more often." said Muri as she held Kweli. "This was actually pretty fun."

"And a little scary at the same time."

*

With these events finally at pass, Tails enjoys the rest of her sixth week of pregnancy. As a result of recent events, the news even came to an agreement to leave the young mother be for fear of having to be at the receiving end of M.O.M and another "Mother Mob" as it was reported in the papers. Things seem to be looking up for Tails and Lavender as the young vixen enters her last trimester. But what does the future hold for Tails' daughter....

We, the authors of Megamorph are strong supporters of the rights of women, whether they be pregnant or not. As such, this chapter was dedicated to them and the rights that they have achieved over the years. So let's tip our glasses to the bearers of life in support and congratulations to them, go moms =D


	31. Chapter 31

A/N's: Again, sorry for the long delay in chapter, but shit happens and time is an issue for us authors. I'd like to point out that again the current chapter deals with issues that can be taken quite seriously, and they are not meant to cause offence. I'm not talking about mature scenes, either, so don't worry about that. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and give a little piece of heart to those who have gone through similar things as the characters in this chapter. Happy reading.

*

It was a new day and the morning brought some much needed company. Vanilla had decided to make the Traditional Island breakfast for everyone and even had a bottle of Pedialyte for the very young. "Muri, you aren't allergic to plantain, are you?" asked Vanilla.

"I don't think I'm allergic to anything." Muri replied, before letting out a small yawn.

"I see. Well, you should like this breakfast. It's something new for you to try out."

"Oh? Is it sweet?" Muri questioned, wondering over to take a peek

"Normally, but there isn't any sugar sauce here."

"Would you like me to go and get some?"

"Not needed."

"Oh, okay. Um, is Cream still sleeping?" Muri asked, looking around.

"Probably, go and wake everyone up. No one gets to sleep in on this breakfast."

"Everyone?" Muri questioned.

"Well, Kweli can sleep... if he is still asleep, but check on everyone else. If they're sleeping, wipe their eyes with a cold, wet rag to wake them up."

"Okay." Muri replied. _I must have forgotten something...who else other than Cream is here..?_ She thought. However, she just wondered off to Creams room, she knocked softly a few times.

With no response, Muri let herself in, peeking into the room. "Um, Sorry for the intrusion, Cream. Are you awake yet?" Muri asked. No response came from Cream, but she turned over in her sleep instead. Muri wondered over and tapped Cream on the shoulder, no response, so she gently shook the doe. "Ms Cream, time to wake up. Breakfast is ready soon..." Muri said, trying to wake her up in the most subtle way possible. _Wouldn't want to scare her early in the morning... _She thought.

"Bang bang...." Cream said in her sleep, not responding properly to Muri's wake-up call. A sweat drop later and Muri shook Cream a little harder.

"Wakey, wakey, rise and shine, time to get up, ready to dine." She said.

"Jeebs, I wanted black shoe polish on my pumps, not brown shoe polish...."

"She's harder to wake than Shena after a booze fest..." Muri sighed. "Cream! Wake up!" Muri tried harder.

"Cakes up... Upside-down cake. I'll have a slice..."

Muri then became slightly frustrated. She walked out of Cream's room and into the kitchen, where she got a pan and a ladle. "Ms Vanilla, will you be using these?" She asked.

"You know, we usually make punch in a bowl or pitcher." Vanilla said. "I hope Sonic likes saltfish..."

Muri was simply confused, so she just left with the pan and ladle back to Cream's room. She then banged them together in hope that it'd wake Cream.

Cream still lay there in bed on her side with her eyes closed, but she had a smile on her face. "You know, you could've just used a wet rag." she said.

And Muri stood there. "I wanted to try a different approach."

"Well, I was up when you knocked the first time, but I just played sleep." and Cream finally sits up in bed.

"Yeah, I guessed that at this point." Muri said. "I must have forgotten, but is anyone else here other than me, you, Kweli and Vanilla?"

"You forgot that we're at Sonics' place I see. Kweli must really keep you up at night."

Muri looked even more confused. "Yeah, I could do with more sleep..." She yawned. "Anyway, Vanilla is cooking breakfast, I did my bit." And Muri left the room.

"She'll never wake up Sonic with rude noise..." Cream said and began to remove the cover from her body.

Muri was at Tails room. _I feel like a total idiot now..._ She thought. She lifted her knuckle to knock, but the door opened and there was Tails, in her large cardigan.  
"Hm...Morning." She said.  
"I guess I don't have to wake you up, but now for Mr Sonic."  
"Good luck..." Tails replied.  
"Huh?"  
"Here's a tip for you..." And Tails walked out. "Hey Sonic!" She called. "There's a plate full of Chilidogs over here!" And in a split second, Sonic was stood there, looking around frantically. This caused a sweat drop from Muri.

"Hey...you said there were chilidogs here." Sonic moaned.  
"And it got you up, didn't it?" Tails giggled. She then wondered off and headed toward the kitchen.  
"I think I need a nap.." Muri went to the living room as Sonic went back to his room.

"Sonic, ass at the table!" Vanilla scolded the hedgehog. "Don't make me drag you back out here..."

"Just sorting out my spines." Sonic called back.  
"I see you're up bright and early as usual. What's cooking?" Tails smiled at Vanilla.

"The Traditional Island Breakfast." Vanilla answered. "It consists of caldalou, black peppered salt fish, akhees, a slice of plantain and a can of young coconut juice."

"Hopefully, it will help little Ms 'Keep-mommy-awake-all-night' stay awake all day." Tails giggled.

"Your turn is coming, so don't laugh."

"I mean Lavender." Tails replied. "Kweli isn't the only one who keeps his mother awake all night. Lavender decides it's play time when I want to sleep."

"Ah, memories...." and Vanilla sighed.

"Yeah, my restless nights are premature." Tails said. "Do you need help with anything?"

"If you can handle table setting..."

"I'm sure I'll manage." And off Tails goes.

"Good morning." Cream says while walking out. "What's for breakfast?"

"Traditional Island Breakfast, Vanilla said." Tails replied as she began setting the table. "Wanna help me speed up setting the table?"

"You actually found akhees? Lemme go grab the glasses for the juice. Where's the silverware?"

"Top cupboard above the sink, I think." Tails replied.

"Wow, you **are** tired. You're gonna be a nervous wreck when Lavender's born."

"Gee, thanks..."

"Forks, knives and spoons in a cupboard.... what'll they think of next?"

"Yeah, Sonic managed to break the draws under the sink and put them in the cupboard till they were fixed." Tails told her.

"Funny, I thought you put them up there because Kneecaps kept going after them." said Vanilla.

"No, I put them back after Kneecaps was taken off my hands, but then Sonic managed to break the draws whilst speed cooking..."

"Hey, don't blame it on me!" Sonic called from the other room.  
"But it WAS you!" Tails retorted.

"Sally always said that Sonic got a D in Home Ec." Cream joked.

"And an F in everything that didn't involve speed." Tails added.  
"You do realise I _can_ hear you, right?" Sonic questioned.

"When you're done filing your Quills like a butcher would a knife, get your ass up to the table." Vanilla told Sonic.

Sonic appeared at the table. "I forgot what having parents was like, this is a strange refresher Vanilla." Sonic slyly grinned.  
"I suggest we go to the next step and give Sonic swimming lessons." Tails suggested to Vanilla.  
"You wouldn't dare!" Sonic spat.  
"Try me!" Tails grinned coyly.

"At least you won't have to fight with crabs." Cream shot at Sonic.

"Is food ready yet?" Sonic asked, whilst cleaning his ear with his pinky finger, one of his many classic trademarks.

"Just have a seat." said Vanilla.

And Sonic does so, soon Muri joins and as the table is properly set, Tails takes a seat also.

"Is Kweli asleep?" asked Cream.

"Yeah." Muri replied. "Soundly."

"Okay." and Cream has a seat at the table. "I can't believe you actually found akhees."

Tails shrugs.  
"So, you got any day plans?" Sonic asked.

"Not sure... probably writing up paperwork after that fiasco." Vanilla answered.

"How about you girls?" Sonic asked.  
"Nothing that I have planned." Muri replied.  
"I second that." Tails added.

"I have Chao Garden duty today." Cream answered.

"Can I come?" Muri asked.

"I don't see why not. Kweli would probably like being around the chao... well, except for one." and Cream rolled her eyes.

"Huh?"

"Someone actually made a Pedochao."

Muri then sweatdropped. "A...what?"

"Pedochao?" asked Vanilla. "Is that like Pedobear?"  
"Worse, it's Pedochao." Cream answered.

"I'd ask what it is...but I'm actually afraid to." Muri said.  
"I'm gonna go back to bed after this." Tails said.

"No, you're going with Cream and Muri." Vanilla told Tails.

"Why?" Tails lowered her ears.

"Pregnant or not, you still need to walk. And besides, everyone likes 'regular' chao."

"Fine, I'll purchase a chao egg." Tails yawned.

"A gift from mother to daughter, how thoughtful." and Vanilla smiled.

Tails stands and walks over to the corner of the room, picking up the large Angel Chao Doll she had. "Having a real one of these would be nice." She showed Vanilla with a smile.

"Too bad there aren't any more Hero Chao Fruit." said Cream.

"I've found a possible solution to that." Tails returned to the table.

"Well, let's discuss that afterwards. It's time to eat." said Vanilla as she readied the last bit of the food.  
"Great." said Cream. "Muri, you should like akhees... I mean it's not something you're used too, but at least you get the habit of new things."

"I guess..." Muri replied. As food was served and Muri was about to begin eating, Kweli's cries could be heard.

"Looks like everyone wants breakfast." said Vanilla.

"I guess so." And Muri goes off to fetch Kweli. Meanwhile, the rest began to feast.

Sonic is the first one served by Vanilla, then she goes to the fridge to grab the drinks. "Yup, akhees... gotta love those things." said Cream. "If only real eggs looked that pretty..."

"This is good." Tails replied. Muri return with a calming Kweli.  
"I guess he just wanted to be held..." She said.

"Here, give this to Kweli when he gets thirsty." Vanilla said as she hands Muri the bottle that was made for him.

"Um, okay." Muri replied.  
"Well, I'm done." Sonic stretched. "Think I'll go for a run now."

"Wash your dish and take your coconut juice." Vanilla said and tossed the can to Sonic.

Sonic catches the can, throws it into the air, dashes with dishes into the kitchen and returns to catch the can, before dashing into the kitchen again.  
"Show off..." Tails said as she continued her food.

_And that's why Sonic M. Hedgehog is Sonic M. Hedgehog._ thought Vanilla as she sat down with her plate of food. Sonic then boomed out the door, colliding with someone.

"Whoops, sorry Tikal, later!" And off he boomed. Tikal dusted herself off and stood. _Still no patience..._ She thought, walking in.  
"Good morning, everyone." She greeted the girls.

"Morning." said Cream, then continued to eat.

Tikal walked over. "Well, I wanted to talk to Tails."  
"What's up?" Tails asked.  
"Well, it's about our new friend Rei, I think it'd be good if you got to talk to her, see if you can come up with any solutions to her little dilemma." Tikal replied.  
"Hm..."

"It isn't doing her good staying in the old mystic ruins so long, she'll need to come back to the real world eventually." Tikal said.  
"Well, I'll have a chat with her." And Tails eventually finished her food and took her plate into the other room. Tikal took this opportunity.  
"Girls, once I get Tails talking to Rei, I want us to gather up for a shopping spree." She said.

"I have Chao Garden work today, but feel free to go without me." said Cream.

"Nope, you're vital to the whole operation." Tikal replied.

"Again, I have work."

"How long?"

"Six hours."

"So..." And Tikal calculated the time. "Shops would still be open when you're done, right?"

"Are there anymore akhees left?"

"Save some for Tikal." said Vanilla.

"I'm fine, I didn't come to eat. I want to get this surprise sorted out. I've already got the other girls to agree, but Cream is vital to it, so I need to find a way to work around your little job." Tikal replied.

"Make yourself a plate, Tikal. It's not everyday where someone beats the military with a bunch of pregnant women and their supporters."

"I'm honestly fine..." Tikal replied. "Besides, I need to catch up to Sonic, if that's possible."

"Just make your plate before she force feeds your zippity doo dah ass." said Cream.

"You do realise it's rude to force food on someone who doesn't want it, right?"

"Then give the food to Rei. It's disrespectful to turn away one's hospitality."  
"Seriously, you've been in that rock for too long." said Vanilla.

"Fine, Rei might like a good meal. Thanks anyway, but I'm not hungry. If you'll excuse me, I'll be going now." Tikal said. After collecting up some of the meal for Rei, Tikal took her leave, leaving the rest to their breakfast.

"So, I'm gonna get my stuff ready." said Cream as she excused herself from the table.

"What are you going to do after your paperwork, Vanilla?" Tails questioned, as she returned.

"Not sure... but more odds than not, I'll be back to my fertilizing duties." Vanilla answered.

"I see. Well, I'm done, I'm gonna get ready too." And Tails retired to her room.

"Muri, make sure to nurse your son." Vanilla said as the began to open the can of coconut juice.

"I will." Muri replied.

"He seems fine at the moment though."

"Even so, I really don't see him eating so much." Muri studied Kweli a little, though she never gave Vanilla a verbal response. _Newborns nowadays are much different than the newborns of yesteryear. Maybe it's just me, maybe I need to wake up._ Vanilla thought to herself. It was the sudden burst of tears from Kweli that shook those present, making Muri jump ever so slightly.

"Um..." Muri sweatdropped.

"Don't be scared of him, he won't hurt you." said Vanilla.

"I'll take him over there. Kirika would scold me if I breastfed at the breakfast table..." Muri said.

Vanilla shook her head. _She'll be fine. Muri needs to adjust to her life as a mother..._

It wasn't too long before Kweli was happily nursing on Muri, who'd relocated to the living room sofa, so it was quiet again. _This is hard...I don't even know what I'm doing...I hope Tails has better luck with her daughter than I am having._ She thought.

After a little while, Tails came out in one of her maternity dresses.  
"I'm sure this dress just makes _**every**_ curve on my body apparent." She said. "I love it." She finished with a giggle. "Do I look good in purple?"

"Muri, what do you think?" asked Vanilla.

Muri looked over to Tails. "Well, you look better than if it were green, but personally, I think you looked better in the red one."  
"You think?" Tails questioned, looking herself over.

"Yeah." Muri replied.  
"Should I change?"

"Wear what makes you comfortable." Vanilla answered.

"I'll go see what Cream thinks." And Tails wondered off to find Cream.

"Make sure Kweli gets play time in too, Muri."

"Play time?" Muri questioned.

"Babies need play time."

"Um...okay."

"Playtime with babies is important."

"I understand that." Muri replied.

Meanwhile, Tails had located Cream.  
"Cream, what's your opinion on my current attire?" She asked. "Does this look good, or would I be better in red?"

"Which one makes you feel comfortable?" asked Cream.

"I'm fine with either, that's the problem. But I don't want to get more looks than I expect to."

"You're pregnant..."

"Really? I had no idea..." Tails teased.

"Oh yeah. You're pregnant and you're a girl too."

"Yes, and I'm also the saviour of the city, formerly known as a guy. I expect plenty of looks from that. But the question remains. Do I look good or not?"

"I dunno, do you look good?"

Tails just sighed and left. _Why is no one helping me..._ She asked herself in thought.

_Seven weeks pregnant and still isn't used to being a girl._ Cream thought...

Tails ended up changing dress 4 or 5 times, before deciding on the red one, though her bump and curves were no less apparent than the first dress. After everyone had finally gotten ready, they were about to head out the door.

*

The three girls headed out the door and down the street all smiles. It seems that the day was starting out well for everyone.

"So, what type of chao do you think Kweli will like?" asked Cream.

"Hm...Not sure, but perhaps keeping him away from nasty dark chao is a good idea." Muri replied, smiling at her son.  
"I wonder if Sonic's chao Speed is still there." Tails said.

"No, he took Speed to another Chao Garden." Cream said.

"I see." Tails said.  
"By the way, don't you have more lamaze classes?" Muri asked Tails.  
"I think so. I can't remember when though."

"Later this week, I think Wednesday." Cream said.

"Thank you Cream." Tails smiled.

"Good morning girls...Muri." Said a voice from in front of them, the girls look to see Shena, and the white wolf Tia with her. Muri instinctively hid behind the others.

"Lovely, and how are you feeling?" asked Cream.

"Pissed." Shena replied. "That fucker Seifa keeps going to the bar with that asshole bearcat. So where are you going? Perhaps it's time to went home, Muri. You've been gone too long. And where's that bitch aunt of yours? I haven't seen her in a while, and here I wanted to punch her for her attitude a while back, and here she goes and vanishes off the face of the fucking planet..."

"Should we tell her, or let apples be apples?" Cream looked towards Muri. Muri doesn't reply, but it's clear to Cream that the presence of these two was bothering her.  
"Take a breath mint, Shena, and I'd rather not have a shower when you're bitching about nothing..." Tails told Shena. Shena in response lifted a hand to slap Tails.  
"You little..." She was stopped by Tia.  
"Enough is enough..." Tia said. Shena then slammed Tia to the floor.  
"Fuck you..." And off she stormed. Tia stood and dusted herself off.  
"She's worse when pregnant than normal...Eh..."

"I take it you're doing better?" asked Cream.

"Better than what? I don't recall knowing you." Tia said. "If you're talking about Shena and her destructive mood swings, you just put up with them. Sure, she's gotten a lot more violent toward me since Kirika vanished but..."  
"Kirika is dead!" Muri yelled. "D-E-A-D. And you're precious 'leader' killed her!" Tia just silenced up.

"Is it shame or guilt that has you lost in thought?" asked Cream.

"Why would it be either?" Tia asked.

"Neither. So what has you lost in thought?"

"It doesn't matter."  
"Wait a minute, your description matches that of Tia, the one who messed up Aqua's place...you're a bitch!" Tails said.  
"I'll ignore that..."

"Yup, the silence of shame." Cream said. "What hurts you the most is that you can find no way to atone for yourself."

"Are you quite finished?" Tia asked, getting frustrated,  
"You started that whole thing! You're the one responsible for Kirika's death! I'll never forgive you! I hate you!" And off Muri runs. Tia doesn't say anything.

Cream and Tails left to pursue Muri. "Great, there she goes again." said Cream.

Despite the pursuit, Cream and Tails could not find Muri and naturally, Tails became fatigued quickly, and was escorted to a bench.  
"Sorry Cream..." Tails said.

"It isn't your fault." Cream said. "As for that bitch with the foul attitude, I know how to deal with her."

"Who? Shena?" Tails asked.

"Yes, I know exactly how to deal with her."

"Do te-..." And Tails took a breather. "Tell..."

"It's an old trucker's expression, 'The rig is its own worst enemy.' Keep that in mind when we go to class next time."

"I see...so, where do you think Muri ran off too?" Tails asked.

"No clue, but let's find her before Shena does."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about her." A familiar blue female fox showed up, holding Kweli. "You're Cream and Tails, right?"

"Kai? Wow, you really look nice in drag." said Cream.

The fox giggled. "No, I'm Kylia. I'm his twin sister, but at least you know where Muri is. Here." Kylia hands Kweli to Cream.

"Okay." and Cream takes Kweli.

"Where are you headed? I'll tell Kai to bring Muri, once she's calmed down a little."

"I have work at the Chao Garden."

"That's nice." Kylia said.  
"Is your brother a Shadow the hedgehog wannabe?" Tails asked. Kylia simply giggled.  
"No, he's always been the way he is. It's actually quite cute considering he might have a bit of a crush on that little rabbit. But don't let him know I told you that." She giggled once more. "Well, you should get on with your day, don't worry about Muri, she's well looked after. Sorry about giving Kweli to you, but I'm no good with infants."

"Practice... you need more practice." said Cream.

"Yeah, but I'm not having kids yet, so...you know."

"You never know..."

"I haven't met that special someone yet."

"Uh huh..."

"Well, I'll leave you to your day, unless you need anything, of course."

"No, nothing needed." Tails said, she'd finally recovered it seemed. With that, Kylia left the girls.  
"So, what shall we do?" Tails asked.

"Off to work for me." Cream answered.

"Okay, let's go. The R&R will do me good." Tails replied.

So the girls headed off and were soon in the chao garden.  
"Here we are." Tails smiled.

"Yup." Cream said. "Enjoy yourself, my shift starts in eighty."

"Well, how about we get some eggs?" Tails asked. Her voice clearly showed her cautiousness of the subject due to Cream's former chao Cheese. There was no answer, but after a glance of the place, Tails found out that Lavender was her only company.

_She ditched me? _Tails thought. _Fine...I'll get my own egg..._ So Tails wondered off, and it wasn't long before she was carrying around a large orange chao egg. She had a look around at all the people and their Chao. _I'm surprised that Cream took Kweli with her though. She could have left him with me..._ And she walked over to a nearby bench and looked at the egg she got.

After a while, Cream comes back into the Chao Garden with Kweli and wearing a backpack. "Okay, now let's go have fun with the chao." said Cream.

"Where'd you go?" Tails asked.

"Work gear." Cream answered Tails. "Are you okay?"

"You just left without saying anything. I thought you ditched me."

"I told you my shift started in eighty."

Tails doesn't reply, she just stands. "Well, let's go then."

"Here, take Kweli."

"Um..." Tails looked around and place her egg on the bench, before taking Kweli.

"Now for the work." and Cream removes the backpack.

"This should prove interesting."

Cream took out various fixtures from the backpack. It was evident that sprucing up was about to happen. After unpacking everything, Cream took out a ball and tossed it a distance away in the Chao Garden.

"Well, I better start cleaning this place up." said Cream and started to attach various fixtures together. She ended up with what appeared like a wet mop and headed over to the dirty fountain to clean it.

Tails followed, holding Kweli and her egg. "I see, so you have to clean up, whilst keeping the Chao distracted by throwing a ball?"

"Cleaning up is the main thing I have to do." Cream answered. "I clean up a little bit, then water the trees, feed the Chao and go back to cleaning. After that, I tend to the rest of the things in the market."

"I see. There's not many people here, as usual." Tails said. "Tell me if you need me to do anything though."

"Play with Kweli. You're pretty much his other mother, you know."

"Someone told you he nursed on me, huh?"

"Really, he did?"

Tails then blushed. _Whoops, maybe not._ "Um, yes. It was an awkward moment."

"O-kay..."

"You're weirded out, huh?" Tails asked.

"No. I figured that you'd be tired for that sort of thing."

Tails tilted her head. "Why? Because everyone seems interested in sucking my breasts dry?"

"Loli?" was heard by the fox. Tails jumped a bit and looked around. "Loli!" there goes the voice again. "Loli!"

Then it appeared in front of her in all its glory... The Brown colouring of the creature simply stood looking at Tails with its trademark smile. "Loli...." it said once again.

Tails simply blinked. "Um...loli?"

"Loli." Cream glanced over, but was busy with her cleaning to help. _This is awkward... _Tails thought.

"Tails, that's it." said Cream as she cleaned.

"It's what?"

"That is the Pedochao."

"I still don't know what a Pedochao is, but sure..."

"Loli." Pedochao said.

"Haven't you heard of Pedobear?" asked Cream.

"You sorta explained it earlier, but it didn't make much sense to me. I was still waking up."

"It's worrying, Cream..." It was about now that Kweli started wailing. "Oh man..."

"Loli!" Pedochao said and approached Tails. Tails moved her head back a little. _What a weird looking chao..._

Pedochao's head bobbled changed into the shape of a dick and it had a happy expression on its face. "Loli!" it cried.

Tails simply sweat dropped. "I think I'll go sort out Kweli now..." and she walked off towards a nearby bench.

Pedochao ended up following Tails. "Loli."

Tails tried to simply ignore Pedochao whilst she tried to find out what Kweli wanted. After discovering it wasn't time for a nappy change, he wasn't interested in playing and nothing else, Tails simply tried feeding him again, which proved more successful. Tails wasn't helped by the fact there was an ugly brown chao floating around with it's head bubble in the shape of the male shaft though and it made the whole process just that much more embarrassing.

"Loli..." Pedochao said, then flowers began to grow at the sides of its feet.

"What now...?" Tails asked. "Can't you leave me alone?"

"Loli." Pedochao answered.

"I guess not...Cream! Get this creepy thing away from me!" Tails cried.

Pedochao was approaching Tails, and as it jumped towards the nursing fox, Cream had grabbed it. "Okay you, enough of your mischief." she said.  
"Loli! Loli!" Pedochao cried and wiggled around in an attempt to get free.

"It's so creepy...and I never thought I'd say that about Chao..." Tails said.

"Pedochao are... different." said Cream. "Be right back." and off she went with Pedochao.

_I wonder what she's gonna do with it..._ Tails thought.

Tia was walking down the streets, however, the usually brass wolf was lost in thought. _Just how far will this insanity go? If he's capable of murdering Kirika...does that mean he's also capable of killing me...? _She thought. _Even though Kirika got on my nerves and I occasionally beat her under orders...I never wished this on her..._ "Mother would kill me for allowing this to happen..." She sighed. Tia stopped walking and looked around. "Where'd Shena go...?" She questioned. "....I don't care anymore..." And she walked over to a nearby bench and sat down, making sure not to crease her clothing.

"I guess everyone has to clear their minds every now and again." a voice was heard.

"Huh?" And Tia looked for the voices owner.

"Looking for me?" and Vanilla sits next to Tia.

"Oh...it's you." Tia said, before looking away snobbishly, but it wasn't long before she just sighed and acted slightly more civilised. "So, um...having a nice day?"

"For the moment." Vanilla answered. "And yourself?"

"Awkward."

"How so?"

"Shit hits the fan, it usually makes a mess of things." Tia replied.

Vanilla was confused. "I don't follow you..."

"I ran into your children and met with news I did not expect to hear, put it that way."

"So you know about Kirika?"

"Uh huh."

"And how does that make you feel?"

"To find out my half sister was killed by the guy I love...well, go figure..." Tia replied. "I might not have treated Kirika the nicest, but I certainly didn't want her dead. I guess I was so brutal to her due to orders....and possibly jealousy..."

"So you don't feel for this at all then..."

"What do you mean?"

"How do you personally feel, knowing that Kirika's dead?"

"Why do you care?" Tia asked. "I was such a bitch to you, so why would you care what happens to me?"

"Because of you, I was labelled as an accomplice to something I had no involvement of; because of you, G.U.N threatened to put me and my family behind bars and a fine on my livelihood that luckily was wiped away; because of you, I have to calm down a new mother who has no dependable family to take care of her son; and because of you, a young mother and her son have to endure hell just to have a normal life.

"Now I'll ask again. How do you personally feel, knowing that Kirika's dead? And this time, let's get an answer without feeding me smart lip."

"It's not my fault you decided to take Muri in, I told you not to return to the hospital, but it was your choice not to listen." Tia retorted. "And knowing that Kirika was just a pawn in Nazaruda's little game, so easily disposed of despite how close they used to seem make me realise that I'm less than a pawn in his little game...and I am just as disposable. I find out my half-sister is dead and that I was so deluded into thinking things work out in my favour. He doesn't care for me and he never did, he was always so obsessed with Kirika that I wasn't even noticed. I hated her for that...but she was still my sister and it doesn't make me feel good knowing she's gone."

"Good, now we're getting somewhere." and Vanilla crossed her legs. "Now tell me what really fuels your sadness."

"I was used...just like she was used..."

"So the deal with conceiving kids is what?"

"Conceiving kids?" Tia questioned. "You mean Chimera?"

"I was referring to how Aqua ragged you for not being able to mother children."

"Oh..." Tia lowered her head. "Yeah, Chimera..."

She lifts her hand, showing 3 fingers. "There were 3 in the beginning, Kirika, Aki and myself were to carry the chimera projects. It was redubbed M.R.I.U. Aki gave birth to Muri, Kirika gave birth to Irum and my child was meant to be Rumi...but my child didn't survive the process and I lost the chance to have any more children. I stopped ovulating since the incident and...well, that's that." Tia looks away from Vanilla. "Because of this, Nazaruda just simply ignores me, and Shena is more than happy to keep bragging her pregnancy in front of me."

"Shena..." Vanilla shook her head. "So you don't have any idea as to why you've stopped ovulating?"

"No, and none of the medical scientists in Rexchus know either. They claim it to be a side effect from the Chimera project, and after coming to that conclusion, that was it, 'poor little me, nothing can be done, so get over it.' I'd like to just get over it if people'd stop rubbing it in my face that Nazaruda's stupid project fucked me up so much..." Tia then began to cry. "Everyone just uses it as a weapon against me, it's not fare..."

"Everyone wants to play God by reading Marvel Comics. Seriously, birthing weapons and super soldiers... no one wants normal children nowadays." Vanilla said with a sigh. "By now, you should already know about me and my place in the world. And if wanting the rights and ranks of motherhood is all this was about, you could've used other means."

"I guess I just jumped at the chance to have his child, even if it was an experiment." Tia replied. "I guess this is just the punishment for not thinking things through."

"The problem is that it isn't your punishment. In any case, I will see you bright and early tomorrow at 11:30 a.m., young lady." and Vanilla hands Tia a card. "And don't eat anymore red meat for the rest of the day."

"Excuse me..?" Tia questioned taking the card.

"No red meat for the rest of the day." and Vanilla stood up. "Now don't be late tomorrow, and be positive for a change." With this, Vanilla took her leave.

_What....was that? _Tia thought, before looking at the card.


	32. Chapter 32

((A.N: Hey, it's updated? After all this time and you kept us waiting? Yes, yes, I'm sorry guys, but we have been having some major issues at the moment, what with kattx and his collage being the fact we haven't had time to write anything, and then after we got time, I discovered I had left a valuable piece of the chapter at my Uni-House when I went to visit my family, so though we finished it, I've only just got back to put it all together. For those anxious few who've been dying to continue reading, well, here's your reward for not giving up on us.

Anyway, before I proceed, there again is some...rather unusual things happening in this chapter, you'll find out and the end does involve another sexual content which some might not appreciate, but then again, if the last 4 didn't bother you then what chance does this one have. XD. Aaanyway, with that said, and my apologies for the delay, please enjoy the 32'd chapter of Megamorph...btw, I'm gonna try using my 'skills' as an artist to draw this into a comic, it'll take forever, but keep an eye out for it on Furaffinity, Megamorph. (Account name) Have fun, all.))

Tails yawned as she was heading back into the Chao Garden with a now fresh and clean Kweli, who was asleep in her arms. She walked into the main garden where Cream was getting the nuts for the many chao to eat. It had been a while since the two had first entered, and there were a few more faces around, playing with chao all over, though the reactions they gave to the Pedochao were just as similar to Tails reaction, except for one girl in particular who didn't seem bothered by it.

"It's nice to know that things are looking better around here." said Cream.

"Yeah, and Kweli is sleeping now too. You did a good job in here, it's almost sparkling at the pool...The chao seem to thank you for it." Tails smiled. "I'm just glad that 'brown' chao is bothering other people now..." And she shudders a little.

"Pedochao is different and apparently likes girls."

"I wonder why that girl isn't bothered by it." Tails wondered, looking over to the girl, surrounded by Chao, including the Pedochao.

"Perhaps she understands it."

"Maybe, who knows?" Tails replied. "So, what else needs to be done?" At this moment, Kai walked in with Muri in toe.

"Greeting our friends works." Cream answered.

"Huh?" Tails questioned.  
"Good day, ladies." Kai greeted the two. "I believe you're missing one mother rabbit."  
"Um....hi..." Muri said from behind Kai. "Sorry that I ran off like I did..."

"I think you just needed to vent." said Cream.

Muri blushed deeply, groaning a little in embarrassment.  
"Well, I'll leave her with you now. See ya." And off Kai walked.  
"Hey, don't go..." Muri told him, but he either didn't hear or didn't listen as he continued to head out of the gardens. Muri simply sighed. Cream had a confused look on her face, but didn't reply.

Tails on the other hand had a sly grin on hers. "So Muri, do you loooooove him?" This caused Muri to fluster and fall over. She however was quick to recover and seemed all over the place.  
"U-uhm, n-no it's nothing like that, he just...I...uhm..." and she blushed whilst pushing her index fingers together. Tails simply giggled in return.

Cream shook her head. "You girls really are too much." she said.

"Really now? Why's that?" Tails asked.

"You just are."

"Oh."  
"Is that bad?" Muri asked.

"No."

"Anyway, here's your son. He's all fed and all clean since you left and he's resting peacefully." And Tails handed Kweli to Muri, who was still beat red.  
"Loli!" Muri looked to her left, as Tails shuddered. _Great..._she thought. Muri sweat dropped.  
"What in the...?" She questioned.

Muri picked up the Chao and looked at it. After a long pause she spoke up.  
"Aren't you the odd little creature, huh?" She said, and she released it.  
"Doesn't it creep you out?" Tails asked.  
"Why would it creep me out?" Muri asked.  
"The fact his Chao bubble is 'erect' for a start." Muri took notice and put the chao down, backing away just ever so slightly.  
"So...this would be 'Pedochao' then?" She asked.

Cream managed to see Muri holding the Pedochao while tending to things. _Well, those two girls really can rely on each other a lot._ She thought to herself. _Another two and a half hours and I'll be done for the day._ Cream then decided to drink a bottle of Ramune.

Eventually, Pedochao left and returned to the girl who isn't bothered by him.  
"Hm, at least someone likes him." Muri said.  
"Indeed..." Tails replied.

"Well, Cream. Wanna see if we can grow some of those trees?" Tails asked Cream.

"Feel free." Cream answered. "I'll be here at the store if you need anything."

Tails took out her phone and walked over to a corner. She dialled and waited until someone picked up. "Hey, Rouge, are you at the club right now?" She asked.

"Wiping off the bar." Rouge answered. "What's up?"

"Is Shadow there?"

"Nope, he went for a skate."

"Crud, he doesn't have a phone...least not a number I own. And since I have Sonics' phone, I can't call him either." Tails sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"I need someone to nip to my lab, since Marine blasted the crap out of Lav-bot and G.U.N now has her anyway. I need something picked up for me." Tails explained.

"Isn't your lab trashed?"

"No, only the main building, Shadow said the hidden part was still intact." Tails replied.

"Oh no, Dr. Quack stated that you are to do nothing associated with that lab."

"I only want a few of the seeds I've been storing there..." Tails said.

"You mean like sunflower seeds?"

"No, Chao tree seeds." Tails replied.

"Oh, I have some seeds like that. Are you at the chao Garden?"

"Yeah, Cream has work. Do you have a Hero Tree seed?" Tails asked.

"Actually, I have a few tree seeds."

"Are you busy?"

"Not really, just wiping down my bar." and Rouge giggled. "You sound bored."

"We're planning to plant trees, but I don't have the right seeds, hence the phone call." Tails giggled also. "As you know, since Cream is at work and only Muri and I are here, leaving alone is not a good idea."

"Fine, I'll see you in ten." and Rouge hangs up.

And Tails hangs up and heads back over to the girls.

After her talk with Tia, Vanilla went to her post and set the appointment in stone at a local Net Café. Once she was done, Vanilla headed for Casinopolis.

"I wonder if I should work the slots, or pinball this time?" she asked herself.

"Planning to relieve stress, Vanilla?" Asked a familiar voice. Vanilla looked behind her to see Tikal, and Rei in her suit.

"A bit." Vanilla answered. "And speaking of stress... look how decided to return to life for a while." Rei looked away.  
"I don't like this..." Her metallic voice spoke.  
"I saw you with Tia earlier, I was wondering why you'd want to talk to her after all the trouble she caused." Tikal said.

"Desperate women have reasons." Vanilla answered.

"Let's enjoy some cashinopolis and talk about it. I'm curious." Tikal suggested.

New nickname I see

So in the three enter Casinopolis and grab a table to sit.

"I'll wait outside." Rei said.

"Why?" Tikal asked.  
"Because I'm drawing attention..." Rei replied.

"You should see people react around Gmerl." said Vanilla. "**That** draws attention."

"The entire room?" Rei asked.  
"Just sit down." Tikal told her. "You draw more attention standing up." Rei gave a sigh and took a seat.  
"Don't blame me if I break the chair."  
"So, Vanilla, tell me about Tia."

"Baby Blues." Vanilla explained.

"Baby blues?"

"Yup."

"Explain."

"Tia wants to hear the pitter patter of little feet."

"She wants a baby? That's unexpected considering her attitude." Tikal replied.

"Like I said, she's desperate."

"I have a feeling there's more to this."

"How so?"

"Well, the way she acts, especially around expectant mothers, Aqua for example, just makes me think that's more to this than just wanting children of her own..." Tikal explained.

"The rite of passage known as Motherhood isn't easy for every woman." Vanilla cleared up. "For example, what if Rei wanted to become pregnant, what would you say?"

"Thanks for that..." Rei said.  
"Um...I see what you mean." Tikal replied. "So, she trashed Aqua's salon because she was jealous or..?"

"I have no clue." Vanilla answered.

"Well, I assume you're going to help her then?"

"It's my job."

"Despite the fact she put you through hell." Tikal replied. "You truly are a wonderful person. I guess I don't see at this point why you'd help her, but you must have your reasons."

"It's my job."

"If you actually sit down at talk to Tia on normal levels, she's not actually all that bad." Rei said.

"She's just having baby blues." and Vanilla crossed her legs.

"So, what do you plan to do in order to help her?" Tikal questioned. "I wonder if I should invite her to my show."

"A consultation." Vanilla answered.

"I see, well, good luck with that. Anyway, I thought I should tell you, I have a date." Tikal giggled.

"Good."

"I managed to get Sonic to ask me out. It was a lot more difficult than I thought, but I know why Amy can't ever do it now."

"Uh huh."

"I see you're not interested. Well, I think we should head off now, I have a little more preparing to do." Tikal stood.

"Good luck."

"Talk to you later, Vanilla." And Tikal and Rei take their leave.

It had been 30 minutes, but Rouge had joined the girls in the Chao Gardens and the tree planting had begun. A kindly neutral swim chao was helping them with this process, and whilst Cream was busy working, she too had a little time to help out.  
"Isn't this fun?" Tails asked.  
"Yeah, and all the chao are so cute!" Muri replied.

"So this is what you have been doing all day?" asked Rouge.

"Not exactly, relaxing, taking care of Kweli, watching Cream work and generally having a good time." Tails replied. "I'm also hoping the egg I got doesn't take too long to hatch."

"Eggs. How many children do you want?"

"Oh, don't be such a spoil sport." Tails stuck her tongue out at Rouge.

"Fine... and here I was going to plant my special tree, but I guess I'll keep it for myself then."

"You really _are_ a spoil sport..." Tails looked sad.

"None of that." Rouge said while leaning against a tree. "If anyone is spoiled, it's you. Can't take two months away from the lab without singing the blues."

"Well, excuse me!" And Tails was frustrated.  
"Stop it already!" Muri whined at them both. "You're both bothering the chao AND me! So knock it off!" And Tails lowered her ears and sighed. "Can we go back to having a nice day at the chao gardens?"

"Sorry about that." Rouge said. "I guess I've been too hell-bent on my club."

"So, what seed is gonna be planted next?" Muri asked.

"Not sure."

"Well, I'd like to have the hero tree in first, or the chao tree seeing as that produces Chao Fruit, which happens to be the most nutritious nut that any chao can eat. Not only does it enhance their abilities to run, fly, swim and climb, it increases their stamina and intelligence as well. Good brain food in my opinion can never be bad." Tails explained.

"That's the basic stuff." said Cream.

"No, the chao fruit is a nut shaped like a chao's head, it's much more effective than a normal chao nut."

"There are others trees you can grow though."

"I was only making a suggestion."

"Just pick a seed and let this little guy do the job." Muri said, patting the swim chao.  
"Chao!" The little chao cried happily.

"Okay, let's try one of mine." said Rouge and she pulled out an odd collared seed.

"What seed is that?" Muri asked.

"This seed grows fruit that build a chao's strength. It's called a power seed." Rouge explained.

"Ooh, shall we start then?"

"Why not?" The Chao walks over to Rouge and lifts its arms up at her.

Rouge gives the power seed to the swimming chao, then it walks off into the garden.

"It's so cute when they do that." Muri said.  
"Yeah, it I-..." and Tails paused, looking at her belly. "Well, at least Vanilla's breakfast partially worked. Lavender is all active and kicking." She said.

"And I guess it's time for lunch." said Cream.

"Oh?" Tails questioned.

"I'm a little hungry, I guess." Muri said.

"Let's grab a bite then." said Rouge.

"Sounds good, what shall we get?" Tails asked as the four went to find food.

The girls wondered through the town, Tails was looking from building to building, clearly looking for something in particular. After a short while though, the girls all stopped to decide where to eat.  
"Looking for something Tails?" Muri asked.  
"Yes, there's a place I know that does lovely pasta." Tails replied. "I can't remember just where though..."

"Pasta sounds nice." said Cream.

"What was it called?" Muri asked.  
"Marauders or something silly like that." Tails replied. Muri laughed. "What's so funny?"  
"Shena tried to sue that place for giving her something she was allergic to." Muri replied.

"Ouch." said Cream.

"There it is!" Tails called pointing to the restaurant.

"Good, let's eat." said Rouge.

So the girls begin to walk over to the shop, when they are stopped by a woman and her child.  
"Excuse me, you're... Miles Prower, right?" The woman said.  
"Tails, Mummy, Tails." The little girl corrected her.  
"Um...yes." Tails replied to them, but she had a sweat drop on her head. The other girls did nothing but smile.

"I'm not here to bother you about the whole being a girl thing, so please don't freak out but um...my little girl is a huge fan of yours and I wanted to know if you'd perhaps give an autograph for her?" The woman said.  
"I'm fine with that." Tails smiled. With that, the little girl walked over and handed up a book and pen, to which Tails was quick to sign and give back.  
"Thank you, Tails." The little girl giggled.  
"Sorry to have bothered you." The woman apologised.  
"It's fine, really. I'd rather sign the occasional autograph than have to answer a thousand 'why I lied about being a girl' questions." Tails said.

"Hey, can we get seated to a table around here?" Rouge shouted.

"Let's get to the place first, shall we?" Muri said.  
"Thanks again." And the woman took the child and left. The crew then continued into the restaurant.  
"Ah, welcome, welcome. Please, right this way, ladies." A waiter approached and showed them to a very fancy area in the restaurant.

_I hope this place has good food. I don't want to mention that one Italian joint I went to._ Thought Cream.

"Was a bad place, I take it?" Muri said to Cream.

"You know, we're gonna have to talk about boundaries before this days gets out." Cream told Muri.

"I'm sorry?" Muri questioned, confused.

"Yeah, the boundaries talk later..."

"What did I do?" Muri looked sad.

"Are you two okay?" Rouge asked.  
"Sis is probing thoughts again." Cream answered.

"I...I..." And Muri blushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean too..."  
"She doesn't know how to control that, Cream." Tails told Cream. The girls took seats, but Tails was having trouble. "Oh, this table is too close to the chairs." She moaned, unable to sit comfortably. The chair in particular was like a large leather couch, but it was connected to the floor, as well as the table.

"Can we get a more 'mother friendly' table?" Rouge asked the waiter.

"Ah, of course, of course. Claretta! Predisporre una tabella adatto per una donna in gravidanza in una volta!" The Waiter called to someone. A woman then came out from the back and walked over.  
"Hello, if you'd follow me over to another table, I'll prepare it for you." She said. So the girls stood up and followed her. After about 3 minutes, she was able to make them a seating equally as comfortable as before, only now Tails was more comfortable as well.

"So, how's that baby of yours, kid?" Rouge asked Muri.

Muri smiled and passed Kweli over to Rouge. He was wide awake and exploring the room with his eyes, until he saw Rouge to which he was fixated on her face. He had a pacifier to keep him content. "See for yourself." Muri said.

"Quiet baby."

"You're not uncomfortable with children are you?" Muri questioned. Kweli reached for Rouges face, unable to reach though. It was about this time that the girl returned and placed Menu's on the table for everyone.

"I just haven't thought about children." Rouge answered. "Between working two jobs and balancing life expenses, having my own isn't something I have time for."

"Well, you can still play with Kweli a little while, right?" Muri smiled.

"I'll hold him when he's a bit older. I mean, your son isn't even a month old yet."

Muri sat normally, holding Kweli in her arms, she tickled his tummy a little and continued to play with him. Tails took up the menu.  
"Eh...do not order the parmesan cheese...eck..." She said. "Think I'll have a salad to start things off."

"I'll take your word for it." Cream giggled.

"I'll start off with garlic bread if we're having starters." Muri said.

"Lemme look." said Rouge as she scammed the menu.

It was about this time the door dinged again and in came Tikal and Rei, this however caused a lot of looks, what with the robot and all.  
"What in heavens is...?" Someone began to say.  
"I knew this was a bad idea..." Rei spoke.  
"It's rude to stare." Tikal told the place, this caught the attention of the girls and stopped the staring (to a degree) from the shop.

_Who's the bot?_ thought Rouge.

"Hey! Tikal! Over here!" Tails called over. Tikal looked over and beamed.  
"Hi girls." She said. The two then walked over and Tikal joined the girls, but Rei stood to the side.  
"Rei, sit down." Tikal told her.  
"Negative...I'd destroy the chair."  
"You said that in Casinopolis, but you didn't..." Tikal said. "Come out of the suit."  
"I'd die..."

"Surely you can leave it for a short while..."  
"Eh..." And Rei's suit opened and Rei hoped out, this took straight to our pregnant fox's interest.  
"Whoa, that's awesome..." She said.

"You remind me of that chick from Metriod." said Rouge.

"Uh..." Rei sweat dropped. "I should get back in it."  
"Wait a moment." And Tails stood and walked around to the suit for a tiny investigation.  
"Hey, what are you...?"  
"Just looking."

_There she goes being tech savvy again._ thought Cream.

"Hmm, I see how this works, so...I assume that gem contraption on your chest can't be removed?"  
"Since it goes into my body and out the back, no...I'd die on instant unless it's done properly." Rei replied.  
"I see, well, it's powered by this clearly, but this part..." And Tails placed her hands on something on the inside of the suit and pulled it out, wires followed it.  
"Hey! Stop that!" Rei moaned, worried for the suit.  
"Trust me, turn around." Rei was confused but did so. Tails then pushed what she'd pulled out into Rei's back, where the gem would be, it caused a strange noise, but it clearly affected Rei for the better.  
"What did you do?"  
"Well, it came out safely on the machine and it allows you to leave the machine just a slight bit and still power your artificial heart, so...you're free to remain out of the suit, so long as the wires are intact." Tails explained.  
"......wow.....I didn't think of that..."  
"You were probably worried about damaging your life support." Tails said, she then took her seat, as did Rei. It was a weird sight, seeing her with wires coming out of her back, but at least it was a little better than talking to her as if she were a machine.

"Yup, Metriod." said Rouge. "What soups are served today?"

"It's in the menu." Tails said.  
"So, how are you girls?" Tikal asked.  
"Hungry."

"In the mood for soup." Rouge answered.

"Food's on the brain." Muri said.  
"I see."  
"Um...I just noticed something..." Muri said, she then lowered her tone. "There's a creepy lady in that corner."

"Don't be rude." Cream said.

"Sorry...she just is..." Muri lowered her head. Rei looked over and then looked like she wished she didn't.  
"So...um, yeah. What is everyone going to do after this?" She asked.

"Probably back to the club." Rouge answered.  
"Sleep. Chao duty is a handful." Cream answered.

"I see." Rei replied.  
"I'll just follow Cream." Tails said.  
"Kweli is tired, he's just drifting off now." Muri said. The woman from earlier returned.  
"May I take your orders?" She asked.

"What soup do you guys have?" asked Rouge.

"Salad." Tails replied. "Not soup."  
"I'll just have garlic bread."  
"I think I'll try the tomato soup, how about you, Rei?" Tikal asked.  
"Not sure." Rei said.  
"Two tomato soups then."

*

"I guess I'll have a tomato soup too." said Rouge.  
"What kinds of dressings do you have for your salads?" asked Cream.

The woman then took a salad menu from the middle of the table and showed it to Cream.

"Hmm... What do you prefer?" asked Cream.

"I had Italian dressing on the boat, so I might try a French one this time." Tails said.

"I'll have Thousand Island on my salad." said Cream.

After everyone had made their orders, the waitress left, the group had a nice chat until the starters were brought over.  
"Ah, here we go." Tails smiled, then she was given a bowl equal to the size she had on the boat.  
"You're...going to eat....that whole bowlful?" Rei sweat dropped.  
"The 'joys' of pregnancy. You eat like crazy." Tails said.  
"That's not something I shall experience." Rei looked away.

"I think you could, but you'd probably birth premature." said Rouge.

"I haven't the 'heart' for it." Rei joked, but she didn't crack a smile to it.

"I've seen dead women have kids, bless their souls." said Cream.

"I'm not touching that one." Rei said. "I died once already."

"Sorry, I failed at being hopeful."

"..." Rei didn't reply.  
"Happy topics please." Tails said. "Cream, do you mind giving me a hand? I need to use the bathroom." She asked standing up.

"Right." and Cream went with Tails to the ladies' room.

Once inside, Tails turned to Cream. "I'm conflicted." She said.

"With?" asked Cream.

"I want to help Rei, but I'm forbidden."

"Ah, the 'sorrows' of pregnancy... Um, should I stand in front of a stall?""

"I'm fine for a moment, I don't need to toilet desperately, I just wanted to talk to you about this. I don't know what to do..."

"You deal with your daughter first, Tails."

"Yeah, I guess..." Tails sighed. "I just feel sorry for her, she's cooped up in that contraption indefinitely."

"The heart is willing, but the body is not..."

"Huh?"

"I know, I quoted the proverb wrong. The proverb is, 'The mind may be willing, but the body is not.' It's a reference people use as they age. Because as time goes on, the body changes..."

"Speaking of which, I wonder how many times that suit needed to be rebuilt to fit Rei's ever changing age and body." Tails went back into her genius thinking.

"There you go again being a tech-head..."

"Sorry..." Tails scratched her head. "Well, might as well get on with business."

Meanwhile, back with the other girls.  
"Being pregnant must make using the loo a lot longer." Rei said.  
"Yup." Muri replied. "And Cream's there to help encase something happens."  
"Like what?"  
"Well, I actually got stuck once, Kirika needed to help me out of the loo." Rei giggled a little, before she laughed. "Hey, it's not funny..." Muri frowned.

"I wonder how I will deal with all of this business..." said Rouge.

"How so?" Tikal asked.

"This has been a nightmare."

"Talk to me about it."

"This still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I guess I still haven't fully let things go."

"You mean with Tails pregnancy?"

"No, with how my club was totalled."

"Well, just remember that you can pay Robotnik back his comeuppance tenfold for that." Tikal said. "I was going to say that if you were thinking about starting a family of your own, and if Knuckles would be involved, you need to get your foot in the door or Shade'll beat you to it." She giggled.

"Pass."

Tikal giggled. "I see, oh how Knuckles will be disappointed."

"Well, there are always you to make him a happy guy." Rouge teased.

"Nah, I've my eye on someone else." Tikal replied. "Besides, Shade seems quite happy trying to get his attention. They're both so stubborn they won't admit it, but I see chemistry."

"Yeah, men... gotta have men."

"Find a woman then."

"Pass."

Tikal looked at Rouge. "I didn't know you were a lesbian though."

"I was drunk and got paid $400, okay?"

"What are you talking about?" Muri questioned.  
"Yes, a change in subject please." Rei added. Cream and Tails returned at this point.

"So what did we miss?" asked Cream.

"Well, Ms Tikal was saying about Ms Rouge being a lesbian or something." Muri said, having not quite followed the conversation well.  
"I didn't know you swung that way, Rouge." Tails shot at Rouge.

"Weren't you drunk that night?" asked Cream.  
"Yes I was." Rouge answered. "And how did you hear about that?"  
"I was snuck in."

Tikal coughed. "So, who's up for the main course?" She asked.

"It's here?" asked Cream.

"Starters are nearly done; we should order our main soon."

"I see."

"You know what would be weird?" Tikal questioned.

"No."

"If Shade got pregnant. I so want to be around to see the look on her face if she found out she was pregnant, that would be priceless." Tikal giggled.

"Uh huh." said Cream and Rouge.

"I wonder if they do Pasta bake." Tails pondered. "If not, lasagne."

"You mean you don't know?" asked Rouge.

"Only came twice, and had a spaghetti Bolognese and Pasta in a white sauce. The rest I haven't tried." Tails said. "The ice-creams are good though."

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

"I don't know what to get." said Cream.

"Well, we could just ask for a large pot of pasta and tomato made sauce with a ladle and help ourselves to that. Bottom of the menu, something about all you can eat. It's pricey but it'll feed everyone, and with the other prices, everyone's total would match it, I think." Rei explained.

"Think there's mince in it as well."

"So, a giant Bolognese?" Tikal questioned.  
"Asking the wrong person. I usually eat liquefied things due to staying in my little shell here."

"If we're having so much problems choosing food, why not pay for the starters and grab a pizza or something?" Tails sighed.

_Not gonna touch that one._ thought Rouge.

"What do you think, Cream?"

"I still don't know what to decide." Cream answered.

"Fine, then if no one else is choosing, I'll call for that giant pot. Any complaints?" Tikal issued.

"I don't know what to choose." Cream whimpered.  
"No thanks." said Rouge. "Pasta should be eaten in plates, not out of a big bowl like slop."

Muri stood with Kweli and headed for the bathroom reserved for handicapped people and parents with young children.

"I guess it's changing time..." Tails said. "Well, let's order something already. I'm going for Lasagne."

"I'll order last." said Rouge.

"Isn't lazan-...whatever, just pasta drowned in cheese?" Rei asked.  
"Uh...I don't think so." Tails replied.  
"I'm going for the pasta with white sauce." Rei said.  
"Fine, I'm going for a typical Bolognese." Tikal said.  
"Cream, if you're still having problems, try the same as me, you don't have a problem with Lasagne, do you?" Tails asked Cream.

"Can I get some Louigi in pesto sauce?" asked Cream.

"Get what you like." Tails said.

Muri returned with Kweli, but looked uncomfortable, Kweli asleep. Muri took a seat once more.

"You okay?" asked Rouge.

"I threw up in my mouth a little bit..." Muri said. "I'll be fine..."

"Can we get some help over here?" Rouge called out in the obvious.

The waitress then walked over. "Are you ready to take your main orders?" She asked.

"What do you prefer to eat here?" asked Cream.

"Excuse me?"

"What would you recommend to eat here?"

"I've never been asked that before..." The waitress said. "I'm a vegetarian, so I stick to only the veg-pastas. I like the Italian Ziti Bake."

"And what is in that?"

"It's in the Menu." The waitress said, pointing out the food.

"So, could I get..." Cream looks at the menu... "The Trio Pasta Mixer. For my trio, I would like the Penne with garlic pesto sauce; Farfalle with the six cheese marinara sauce and the Rainbow Tortellini with the sun dried tomato vinigarette."

"Okay, okay..." The waitress wrote it down.  
"I'll try that Ziti Bake." Tikal said.  
"And Pasta in white sauce." Rei added.  
"What's a...'Spicy Texas Breakfast Casserole'..." Muri asked. "It's not a breakfast only is it?"

"No, it's an all day meal." The Waitress replied.  
"Can I have that then?"  
"Of course."  
"I'd like the Pasta Stuffed Pizza-Style." Tails said. All the information was taken down.

"Yeah, can you describe the Sexy Pasta to me?" asked Rouge.

"Well," the waitress began, "our sexy pasta is a custom made noodle that is long and slightly curved. almost like elbow macaroni. we stuff it with beef sausage, and it comes with alfredo sauce and two potatoes."  
Rouge had a smirk on her face. "All right, I'll have the sexy pasta." she said.  
"Would you like the solo, or the duet?"  
"Is the duet extra?"  
"Fifty cents, but well worth it."  
"Okay, you sold me, I'll take the duet."  
"Okay then. I'll come back with your breadsticks." and the waitress left the table.

"Typical Rouge...Anything has the word Sexy in it is the thing you get." Tails giggled.

"Uh huh?"

"Just a question before food, any one here put off of food on the topic of birth?" Tikal asked. "I just want to know, if so I won't continue."

"Lolwut?" asked Cream.

"Is talking about birth going to put you off of your food?"  
"No, I've been through it already." Muri said.

"Food is good." said Rouge.

"I'm going to assume your conversation will involve me." Tails said to Tikal.  
"I wanted to know what kind of birth plan you have." Tikal replied.  
"Birth plan?"  
"Yeah, different ways for birthing."

"I'm not sure."  
"Well, some woman birth at home, some do a water bath, and some woman get all drugged up." Tikal said.  
"Water...birth?"  
"Aqua did that."  
"I heard about that from Vanilla...well, Aqua birthing that is."

It took a few more minutes of chatter that the food arrived.

"Enjoy your meals." The waitress said before leaving.

"Wow, that was quick." said Cream. "I figured that pasta takes time to prepare."

Rouge looked at her food and noticed it was covered up. "Well, I guess I open it up and enjoy." she said.

"I shall enjoy this." Tails said, having got her food. "About the birth plan, I have no idea yet."  
"Okay." Tikal said. "Oh, I just remembered, didn't you have something at your club you wanted everyone to try a while back, Rouge? It was something eatable, I think."

"Yeah, but that can work later." Rouge answered, then she peeked at her meal under the lid. She soon closed the lid and started to chuckle.

"Something funny?" Muri asked.

"My food."

"What?"

"I don't think I can eat this... its way too sexy."

"...I see..." Muri replied.  
"What'll you do about it?" Tails asked.

"Well, see for yourself." and Rouge opened the lid. Rouge's meal consisted of pasta that was ironically shaped and rather large macaroni in the shape of a Wang. to make matters even more obscene, the other parts of the meal looked like two pieces of macaroni that resembled a vagina. From the slices of tomatoes that made it appear like the open vulva to the fact that the "male half" had its tip in the "female half" and a strategically placed strand of cheese even made things even more obscene. "Is that your meal, or sex?" asked Cream.

"Excuse me!" Tails called the waitress over.  
"Yes, may I help you?"  
"Well, I thought this was a family restaurant and yet you're allowed to serve up stuff like that?" Tails pointed out Rouge's meal.  
"Uh..."

"Not only is it disgusting enough to put me off my food, but it's not something you expect as food, it's appalling."  
"I'm sorry...I don't cook, I just take orders."  
"Well, I shall be filing a complaint, because that is simply disturbing..." Tails told her.

"I think its funny." said Rouge.

"Well, it's put me off of my food and children are in this place. I'm sorry, but it's disgusting. I thought this was a nice place as well."  
"I'll agree it put me off my food too..." Muri said.

"Is the cheese supposed to be orgasm?" asked Cream.

"Uh, I'm done." And Tails stands up and walks to the bathroom.

"Well, it doesn't bother me." Tikal said.  
"I have no comment..." Rei said.

"Lemme go help her out." and Cream follows Tails.

"Wow, Tails is angry..." Muri said.

Rouge just laughed. "Fucking food..." she said.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom. Tails was washing her face, but she wasn't happy.

Cream walks in and sees Tails washing up. "You all right?" she asked.

"No, I'm not." Tails replied. "That was disgusting, sex is meant for the bedroom not your dinner plate. I thought this was a nice place, but you won't see me in here anymore after this."

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting the sexy pasta to actually **have sex**, but you get what you pay for."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not staying. That's totally put me off my food, I'm paying for my starter and then I'm leaving." Tails said. "I'm not eating in a filthy place." And Tails splashes her face with water again.

"Don't be mad, Rouge is enjoying her plate though."

"Well, it's disturbed me, I'm not staying..."

"Fine. But wait for me here, I'll be right back."

"Okay." Tails said as she relaxed.

Cream left the bathroom and joined the girls. "Well, Tails is ready to go." she said. "Pack mine up and cover it, I'll pay them back later. Also, go shopping, I'll deal with the mom."

"We're leaving?" Muri asked.

"No, just Tails and myself. But feel free to enjoy without us."

"Oh, I see. Well, shall we meet up later?"

"Yeah." and Cream went into the bathroom to check on Tails.

Tails had calmed down it seemed. "Welcome back." She said to Cream.

"Ready to go?" Cream asked.

"Yes." Tails replied, dusting off her clothes.

"Let's go."

Cream and Tails leave the bathroom, and soon, they left the eatery and were going down the street. "Hopefully, we'll just enjoy a fruit smoothie later."

"Yeah, I really thought that was a nice place..." Tails sighed. "So, what shall we do now?"

"Whatever you want."

"Well, do you want to go get some dresses?"

"Maybe later, but let's go toss some darts." Cream smiled.

"Okay." and with this said, Cream took Tails to Twinkle Park.

"Shall we call this a date?" Tails giggled.

"Eh."

"I'm joking..." Tails sighed.

"Yup."

Tails and Cream left twinkle park, they were lugging all sorts of stuffed prizes, Cream the most.  
"I think we won too much..." Tails giggled.

"At least you aren't carrying them." said Cream.

"I have some, you refuse to let me carry anymore..." Tails pouted.

"It can't be helped, you're carrying someone more important than prizes."

"Hello girls. Have fun today, did we?" Shadow showed up. Tails turned around and smiled.  
"Aaah, right on time, Shadow." Tails said, before dumping the toys she had in his arms.  
"Hey, wait...what?" Shadow looked a little baffled at first, and simply sweat dropped as the pile increase, as Tails walked between him and Cream, lightening Cream's load and increasing Shadows. "What are you...?"  
"Hush! We're ladies, and since I'm pregnant, I can't carry these and Cream's too pretty to be lugging a hundred toys. Besides, carrying a few stuffed animals should be no problem for the ultimate life form." Tails lectured.

_Got him._ Cream thought.

"Eeeh..." Shadow sighed, giving in.  
_Oh yes, I have you around my little finger, Shadow._ Tails chuckled to herself.  
"I shall not be treated as a slave." Shadow said, trying to keep his ego.  
"Well, I guess that I won't put out either. But be a dear and carry those for us." Tails shrugged.  
_Damn it..._ Shadow thought. "Fine, fine...Any more you want to hand over, Cream?" He asked. _I swear, if anyone say's one bloody word, I'm going to be pissed off..._

_Crrr-ack that whip._ Cream thought, then answered, "Nah, you shouldn't be overwhelmed."

"Where should we take these?" Tails asked Cream, mainly.  
"Did you girls get enough toys for Lavender?" Shadow complained a bit.  
"Actually, no, 42 more should be the exact estimate of how many more toys she should get before she sufficiently reaches the age of two, then those should be nearly completely replaced with more suitable learning toys, to help her improve her brain power...also, about 20% of the toys here are Creams, and 20% are mine, and 50% are Lavenders." Tails explained.

"Insert witty remark here." Cream said.

"Fine, fine...sorry I asked...wait a minute, you only mentioned 90%, what about the remaining ten?" Shadow questioned.  
"Why...they belong to you, sweety..." Tails gave Shadow loving puppy-eyes, but she was clearly teasing. Shadow simply flushed a bit red, but whether it was anger or not was unknown, he looked away slightly.  
"Bah..." He uttered.  
"Well, now that we've tamed the ultimate weapon, shall we press on?" Tails asked Cream, with a giggle.  
_I've not been tamed...why am I putting up with this...?_ Shadow thought to himself.

Cream gives Shadow the rest of the toys. "I think I'm gonna go make a run." Cream said. "I'm sure that 'Shaddy-waddy' can escort Tails home safely." and off Cream ran.

"Wow, wonder if I said something wrong." Tails pondered. "No matter, we'll be going to Sonic's then." Tails told Shadow. "Unless I've upset you also." She stuck her tongue out a bit.

"I'll manage." Shadow answered.

Tails then began her walk towards Sonic's place, followed by Shadow. "So, how have you been?" She asked.

"No change." Shadow answered. "I heard about Vanilla and simply laughed at that ordeal."

"You mean with G.U.N?" Tails asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, easy enough for you to simply laugh about it, it could have been a lot worse, and I might have lost the only maternal guidance I know of..." Tails pouted. "Not to mention the only one who knows the most proper actions to take if I were to go into labour and that stuff, also who would help support Cream and Muri if Vanilla was locked away, sure Sonic would happily help them out, but even he's limited to how much he can tolerate, and quite frankly, one pregnant fox, 2 rabbits and a bunny is a bit much for the hero of the world, don't you think?"

"Hey, I saved the world too..."

"But you needed convincing to save it, as Sonic does it willingly, that's not the point though. Even you couldn't take care of me, my baby, Cream, Muri and Kweli all at the same time either, right?" Tails explained. "And the day you willingly work together on a constant level is when I give up lab work on a permanent basis."

"You act like being out of the lab is killing you."

Tails wondered over to Shadow and looked up at him. "I haven't invented something in weeks...it isn't killing me, but I am deadly bored when at home. If it wasn't for the fact everyone keeps fawning over me, it **would** be killing me."

"Being a tech head is all you've ever known, so of course it's making you feel this way." Shadow said coyly. "But you have to think about your new life now."

"If you think this little girl inside me will keep me out of the lab, you have another thing coming. Besides, my 'tech head' will allow me to make all sorts of inventions that will better help raise my daughter, not to mention the plans, designs and functions of those devices can well bring in plenty of cash, so that I won't have money problems. Also, you want to be her dad, so you'll have your share of work too, you know." Tails teased.

_Poor girl. She doesn't realize that soon... she won't be in the lab so much._ Shadow thought to himself. _Sure, she'll have her moments in the lab, but once she __truly__ becomes a mother, her lab days will be few and far between._ Shadow simply nodded at Tails' words.

"Nothing to say? You're not changing your mind are you, bout being 'Daddy Shadow', right?"

"Parenthood is an adjustable situation." Shadow answered.

"I have a question for you, Mr. Ultimate Lifeform." Tails begin, circling Shadow as they walked so she was on his other side. "This ordeal, bout being Lavender's father and all, has it made the thought of having your own children cross your mind?"

"Does this mean you want me to knock you up?"

"It's a viable option. I wonder what Sonic, heck, what anyone would say." Tails stuck her tongue out. "I'll be honest, some of the dream's I've had recently involve my baring your children, but then that's something that isn't ruled out in the near or late future, plenty of time for any of that. Buuut, I'm curious if the thought went through your own mind also?"

"Hit-or-miss."

"In other words..?"

"Hit-or-miss."

"I said other words..." Tails narrowed her eyes.

"Regardless, the answer is hit-or-miss."

"Fine, be that way..." Tails folded her arms and pouted.

Shadow stuck his tongue out, but it was blocked by all of the toys.

It was a few minutes of silence after that, but they two soon found themselves on the beach heading for Sonic's place, which was now in view.

"So, did you have a good day?" asked Shadow.

"Until the restaurant, yes. After it was fun too."

"I see."

"Shadow...G.U.N has records on the group known as Rexchus, don't they?" Tails suddenly changed topic.

"Not sure."

"I see...I should see if Rouge might know..."

"Ok..."

"Sorry, I'm overly curious about a few things."

"I see."

They reached the door and Tails let them both in.  
"Go ahead and put the stuffed animals in the living room." She said, as she wondered into the kitchen.

"Right." Shadow said and dealt with the prizes.

Tails found a note on the side for her and she looked at it. "Hm...Seems Sonic has gone on another 'world tour'. He won't be back for a while..."

"I see." Shadow said. I guess we're to ourselves then."

"Apparently so..." And Tails brought some juices into the main room.

"So what do you have in mind?"

"I dunno, chill out?" Tails suggested, passing a juice over.

"That's on you."

Tails and Shadow sat on the couch. The two were by themselves and no one else was around to disturb them. They were graced with a shared solitude once again. It was at this time where Tails was starting to go topless once again. "Need a bit of freedom, I see?"  
"Yeah." and Tails finally managed to get her tops off, baring her chest in front of Shadow again.

Shadow didn't pay it any attention, but he placed his hand on Tails' belly. "She really is a growing girl…" Shadow attempted small talk.

"Yeah, no surprises here." Tails giggled.

After a bit of sitting next to each other, Tails started propping pillows at one end of the couch. "Should I move?" asked Shadow.

"No." was Tails' reply. "Are you doing anything today?"

"Not really."

Tails finished propping the pillows and lay on them. "Fine." She then lay with her back against them.

Shadow didn't pay this any mind; he just sat at the other end of the couch. _It's good to see her relaxing for a change._ He thought. _After all, Tails really does need a break from the hells of the world._

_Of course he won't take the hint._ Thought Tails. _Fine…_

Silence fell in the room for a bit, then the ice was finally broken. "I already know that you're jealous, Shadow." Tails began.

"Jealous of what?" Shadow asked.

"Jealous that Marine had me first and you didn't."

"That's redundant. I don't really care about that sort of thing."

"...Have sex with me."

Shadow almost fell off of the couch. "Now?" he asked.

"Well, we can always get in some foreplay first." Tails answered.

"R… role-play?" Shadow was back on the couch.

Tails sat up. "Fine, I get it. I have to work you first, no biggy." And Tails crawled over to Shadow.

"Hey, what are you…"

"Sit there and gimme that dick."

Tails managed to crawl over to Shadow and took her hand to his crotch. Afterwards, she began to give Shadow a long since overdue blowjob. A few soft moans left Shadow's mouth as he felt Tails sucking his rod, still shocked at the feeling. _When did she learn how to do this?_ He thought.

_Looks like he's done playing hard to get._ Thought Tails. _No let's see if Shadow will learn this dance._

After five minutes of sucking, Tails took her mouth off of Shadow's dick and looked at him. "Done already?" Shadow asked.

"No, but it's your turn." Tails answered. "Or do you need more instructions?"

"Instructions." Shadow answered coyly.

"Take it from the top then."

Shadow complied and let his hands work Tails' breasts. He was careful not to be too rough as she's sensitive up top. He was rewarded with her coos from the feeling of his hands… and eventually, his tongue. After a bit, Shadow sat up and met Tails' eyes. "Well, what is next?" he asked.

"The loss of your virginity." Tails answered coyly.

"Cute, but I'm no virgin." Shadow shot at the fox.

"Sex, but don't know about foreplay… stop lying to yourself." and Tails lays back.

Shadow shook his head in defeat and waited for Tails to lay herself down. "Shouldn't you be against the pillows?" Shadow questioned.

"Feel free to help me out." Tails shot at Shadow.

Shadow propped Tails against the pillows, then rubbed her belly. He was a bit nervous, in concern for Lavender. "Scared already?" asked Tails. "You didn't even get to make contact yet."

"No, I'm not scared at all." Shadow answered.

Tails spreads her legs. "Well, come on in. You'll feel right at home inside me."

"What about condoms and you know who?"

"I have one in, so let's go already."

"But…"

"Will you just penetrate me already? Even Sonic wouldn't procrastinate this much… if it were him, mind you."

"I don't want to hurt your Lavender…"

"She'll be fine, Shadow."

Shadow sighed and stuck his dick inside of Tails' front door. Oddly enough, he managed to go balls deep inside of the pregnant fox. "Tight fit." he said.

"Inside, or outside?" asked Tails.

"Outside."

"Well, thrust away. I can take you; I am stable after all…"

"We'll see." and Shadow starts moving his hips.

"Oh yeah, that's what I like."

It took a few minutes to get into the groove of things, but Shadow and Tails were having sex like regular couples were. And even though Tails is pregnant, there wasn't much problem as far as positioning was concerned. "Well, are you still worried about everyone?" asked Tails.

"Slightly." Shadow answered with a grunt. "I'm more concerned about Lavender than myself."

"Think of this as you way of saying hello to her."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I can. Besides, you want to be in her life as the dad. So why are you concerned about 'playing peekaboo' with her?"

"This is peekaboo?"

"It's not like Lavender will grab you with her hand or anything. Now stop worrying about her and satisfy me."

"I'm still concerned."

"If she didn't like you…" Tails grunts, "Lavender wouldn't have let you pass the front door."

"Interesting."

Shadow managed to get Tails into doggy style and began to hit it from the back. "This is one interesting heart-to-heart-to-heart going on here." he said.

"No wonder you don't have sex, all this monologue is killing the mood." Tails said.

"Sorry."

"Put your attention on the grown up fox and not the unborn one."

"Right."

_You are sooo lucky that I __need__ to be laid right now._ Thought Tails.

_I think I better let things go before this doesn't have a 'happy ending' so to speak._ Thought Shadow.

Shadow managed to tease Tails' body as he worked his hips, placing her in many positions and pacing himself. Ten minutes have passed since the two started having sex and Tails was worn out. "Do you need me to stop?" Shadow asked.

"_Yes._ You better not." Tails answered.

"Well, I'm going to have you prone on your back again."

"Okay."

Shadow turned Tails around slowly, sensing and observing her fatigue as he did. _I think I'll break from my hips and work the top for a bit._ He thought.

_I'm worn out, but I don't want him to stop._ Tails thought. _I didn't even get a chance to come yet…_

Once she was on her back, Tails noticed Shadow started working her upper body, giving him coos as a result. "I'm gonna play with your tits for a while." Shadow said and let his tongue swirl around Tails' left areola.

"Mmmmm….." Tails moaned, then thought, _Thanks for the break…_

_Now, let's help relieve a bit of pressure off of you._ Shadow thought, then started sucking on Tails' breast.

Tails winced a bit, closing an eye in the process. _That hurts a little…_

Shadow was shocked to find Tails' milk squirting in his mouth. _This isn't bad. Now I know why Marine wants to inject you with chocolate syrup._

"Okay, no more sucking. This is starting to feel like needles in my nipples." Tails said.

"Well then, back downstairs." said Shadow and he started thrusting again.

Five minutes later, Tails was worn out again, and it was starting to make her body ache. But she wanted to enjoy this nonetheless. "Should I pull out?" Shadow asked, his left eye was closed tight.

"You better not." Tails answered. "If you love me like you say you do, then blow your load inside me."

"All right." Shadow answered with a grunt.

Twenty seconds later, Shadow fired his cum inside of Tails' body. Tails felt each stream, even though the condom was in place. Her body ached so much that she couldn't orgasm, but was happy that Shadow was able to get off. Afterwards, Shadow pulled out of Tails and fell to the other side of the couch. "Next time, let's do it on the bed." Shadow said.

"Next time, have sex without being a worrywart." Tails shot.

"I'm worn out too. Let's call it a night, I don't want to move."

"Yeah."

And with that, Shadow and Tails fell to sleep.


	33. Chapter 33

Tia walked into a public building and checked the card she'd received from Vanilla. "11:30...I'm sure this was the place." She then checked her watch. "I have 8 minutes...I got here too early...I might as well wait." Tia walked into the building some more and found what she assumed was a waiting room, but she simply stood somewhere out the way and peered around. It only took her 6 minutes to become uncomfortable and leave the building, waiting just outside, she ended up looking back and forth the busy town, searching to see if Vanilla had even shown up yet or not.

Tia walked back into the building and found a form of reception.  
"Excuse me, I was told to come here by a rabbit named Vanilla. Could you...?" She started, but the woman behind the counter interrupted, but not rudely.  
"Ah, yes. Mrs Vanilla hasn't arrived yet, but I'm sure she'll be here soon. If you can wait a little while, we'll tell her you've arrived."  
"Thanks..." And Tia left the desk and headed back into the empty waiting room. "It's so stuffy in here..." She uttered before she sought a seat that didn't seem somewhat unhealthy or dirty to her, before neatly sitting down, making sure her large dress didn't crease. She found a newspaper and looked at it. "Still on about that Tails thing...you'd think they'd learn after the issue with G.U.N." She spoke aloud to herself.

After a few moments have passed, Vanilla noticed Tia in her seat. "Well, I guess it's good to know that I got here in the nick of time." she said.

Tia put down the newspaper. "Yeah, I guess so." Tia said. "This room is particularly stuffy, does it have air conditioning?"

"Hmm, there should've been someone to work on the AC. Anyway, let's get going. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."

Tia stood and walked over. "Well, lead on..." She said.

Vanilla led Tia to the consultation office. "Did you wait long?"

"Only a few minutes..." Tia replied.

"Find the place all right?"

"I had to ask for directions twice, but I felt stupid after finding it." Tia scratched her cheek a little.

"I see."

"Well, the giant M.O.M on the front should have been obvious, but I completely missed it.

"That happens."

"Why did you tell me not to eat red meat, by the way?"

"It's procedure."

"I see..." Tia said. "Mind if I find a seat?"

"Tired already, we didn't even reach my office?" Vanilla was shocked.

"I'm not tired..." Tia replied, looking away.

Vanilla kept her face. "So why are you here, and don't say 'Because blah blah blah'?"

"You gave me a card and told me to." Tia stopped walking, looking at Vanilla.

"Perhaps I should see you out then..." Vanilla said.

"I should have known you'd be wasting my time, Vanilla. Hope is for the weak..." And Tia turned and began walking the way she'd come in.

"Feel free to come back when you know why you're here. Maybe you'll listen to instructions next time."

Tia stopped walking. "I was stupid to think you'd have a solution to my problem, I was an idiot to talk to you in the first place. Whilst everyone else thinks you're such a lovely person, like everyone else, you too would rather laugh at my situation and mess me around...A happy parent like you would never understand what I endure..."

"So I'm making fun of and laughing at you now?" Vanilla questioned. "I haven't done that to you, you just made yourself believe that. Not one giggle has left my mouth about your situation. Then again, you would rather follow than venture. So feel free to leave." Tia didn't respond, but she didn't move either. "If you came here because of blah blah blah instead of an actual reason, then feel free to leave. Either way, it's your choice to make, so make it."

"What the hell do you mean by blah blah blah!" Tia yelled. "I came here because when you gave me that card and told me to, and I do mean you told me, because a little stupid feeling at the bottom of my already pretty dead heart told me you had a possible solution to my situation, the situation that you questioned yesterday..." Tia didn't turn to face Vanilla, but she was on the verge of tears, to which she mentally scolded herself for.

"Why do women become mothers?"

"That's a question that cannot be answered, circumstances are different for a lot of them. I guess however that it all comes down to one answer, because they want to..." Tia replied, wiping her eyes. "And I wanted to...but I was denied."

"Hmm. 'One of your reps told me to come here...' 'A co-worker said that I should come here...' 'I was referred here by someone...' Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah!"

"Whatever..." Tia said.

"Fine. When you're ready to stop suffering, come back. I'm sure you can see yourself out." and Vanilla folds her arms.

"I came here because I thought you'd help me..." Tia blurted, turning around.

"Yet you act like you don't want help..."

"At least answer me this. Why do you want Irum?" Tia asked.

"Because I'm choosing to be her mother."

Tia then looked through her bag and took out a CD. "You might want to look at this." She passed the CD towards Vanilla.

Vanilla took the CD. "So, does this mean you're leaving?"

"What can you do to help my situation?" Tia asked. "I'm sorry for my behavior...I'm a bit...all over the place at the moment."

"You didn't answer my question." Vanilla reminded Tia.

"I'm not leaving yet."

"And as for why you're here?"

"Because I want help..." Tia lowered her head.

"Not with a low head like that. Now chin up and let's get into my office. We have things to discuss."

So, Tia continued to follow Vanilla and they finally arrived at the office.

"Well, that was quite the scene in the hallway." said Vanilla as she opened the door to her office. "Hopefully it snapped some judgment into you." Tia simply groaned in her own shame for a bit, but didn't reply.

The two entered the office, and Tia walked over to the window. "You have a nice view from here...is that a cherry blossom tree?"

"No, just a regular cherry tree. Import laws are strict about foreign fruit and plants." Vanilla cleared up and sat at her desk.

"That's a shame, I like those trees..." Tia replied.

"Take a seat and we will begin when you're ready." Tia found her seat, again making sure her dress doesn't crease.

"Okay, I'm ready..." Tia said.

"In case you began to forget about what happened earlier, let me remind you that I will not sugar up things, young lady. That's how I went from working in a box to my own office. Logical demeanour beats ethical demeanour." Vanilla stated.

"Yes, I'm aware that you can be merciless if need be." Tia replied. "And because of what my actions caused you and your family, I haven't expected any from the beginning, which is why I'm surprised to be sitting here anyway."

"Why do you figure?"

"You said it yourself that because of me, you and your family were hit with misfortune."

"I leave my personal matters out of my professional setting."

"I figured you'd say something like that." Tia said.

"I thought you wanted my help, not to dissect me with every chance you get."

"I'm not trying to dissect you. I'm sorry you took it that way."

"You're frightened...."

"I have much to fear right now..."

"So let's start with this situation of yours. Tell me about... well, about 'it'. And feel free to loosen up if need be."

"The situation behind my inability to have children." Tia said. "Due to Nazaruda's project, I lost my child and have never ovulated since, nor have I had my period. No eggs, no children."

"Project? I know nothing of this project."

"You're acting like we never met yesterday."

"Difficult women don't get help."

"Fine, play it that way. I got pregnant willingly by Project Chimera, a project designed to basically created biological super weapons using newborn children. Though this isn't the reason I opted to do it. My reason was that there were at least 3 different ways that the children would be created. One was to fill the womb with chaos energy and see how the child would turn out, a second was to conceive a child whilst the parents were under the effects of chaos energy, and then the last one which was to mix chaos energy with the eggs and sperm that would conceive the child. Nazaruda, the leader of Rexchus, stated he would be the father of 2 of the projects and someone else was opted to father another. Whilst I won't speak more of the results, my pregnancy went wrong, and I collapsed before my due date and woke up in the medical centre. I was told I miscarried, to my despair, and I haven't ovulated since..." Tia explained. "And my reasons for doing it was because I could be a mother and it would be Nazaruda's child..."

"So which way affected you?"

"They didn't tell me the method used on me, to stop me leaking too much information, and I didn't have to worry about them choosing to use the other person as the father of my child, as it was already agreed that he'd conceive with Aki."

"But either way, the method involved chaos energy?"

"All the methods that I know of involve chaos energy, as it's the most powerful known form of energy on the planet..."

"So did you even see the foetus after your miscarry?"

"..." Tia paused for a moment, as if contemplating something. "...No."

"What did you feel before you passed out?"

"Intense pain..."

"Go on."

"I remember it felt like I'd been slashed from the inside, I ended up falling to my hands and knees, my vision went fuzzy and I don't remember anything after that..." Tia explained, but her voice was weak.

"Any scarring or blood?"

"No, not that I remember."

"Do you remember what else the doctors told you aside from your miscarriage?"

"No, I think I was too overwhelmed at the time." Tia leaned forward, placing her face in her palms. "I remember them apologising to me for my loss, but I don't remember if they detailed anything."

"Did they ask about you wanting to see the foetus?"

"No, they didn't." Tia shoulders shook, she was clearly fighting breaking down.

"I know this is hard for you, but I'm finding this odd for a medical centre."

"I'm so stupid..." Tia spoke, more to herself than anything.

"From what you've told me, I can assume a few things: Either you were barred from seeing your dead child, you actually gave birth and they lied to you, then 'fixed' you, or your miscarriage was a result of an implosion as a result from too much channelled chaos energy in your womb.

"And since you weren't told on which procedure happened, it's hard to tell what really happened to you."

"Would the fact the medical centre was a part of Rexchus, which is the company Nazaruda is the head of, confirm anything for you also?" Tia lifted herself up and looked toward Vanilla.

"It is suspicious."

"Well, this has certainly opened my eyes to a lot of things..."

"With that said, are you up for a few exercises?"

"What kind of exercises?" Tia asked.

"Health based ones."

"Are any embarrassing?"

"No, but the standard exam might be."

"Well, um...I can try..."

"If you like, I can perform the exam myself."

"I'll try the exam." Tia said. "I shouldn't be scared of exams..."

"So, would you like one of our doctors, or should I perform it for you?"

"Exactly what does this test involve?"

"It's pretty much a basic exam from the OBGYN. You lay down, open up, and the doctor examines your vaginal cavity, lining and will even add a nice, optional fragrance."

Tia scratched her head. "Oh..."

"Yup."

"Is it a needed procedure?"

"It'll shed light on your vaginal health."

"I guess that is one reason, what doctors do you have?"

"Why not introduce you to him?"

"Um, okay..." Tia blushed a bit.

"Let's go then."

Tia got her things and stood up. She bowed to Vanilla. "I'd just like to thank you for what you've done so far." and stood up right.

Cream was walking through the town, she was window shopping at certain toy shops and other child care shops. She ended up walking inside a somewhat small, but handy little shop with all sorts of things a mother would need for their child, including clothing, toys, prams and cots. Cream was simply browsing around, before she was spoken to.  
"Hello Cream, how are you?" Muri had apparently seen Cream and followed her into the shop, Kweli in arms.

"Welcome back. There's plenty of carrots and cabbage to go around." Cream joked.

"I...don't get it..." Muri frowned a bit. "Anyway, you're gift shopping, I take it?"

"Yup, I might as well do some gift shopping. I have to get two gifts anyway."

"Two? One for Tails and one for Lavender?" Muri questioned.

"One is for Lavender, and the other is for Kweli." Cream corrected.

"Oh, I see...well, Kweli would be grateful I'm sure." Muri replied. "So, what happened after the restaurant business? Tails was really mad."

"Muri, how does food have sex?"

"I honestly don't know, but it wasn't nice."

"It happened on Tails' plate."

"Wasn't it Rouges?"

"That's beside the point. Anyway, what do you have planned for Lavender's gift?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen the sparkles yet." Muri said.

"Well, let's go browse."

So Cream and Muri had a look around, whilst there were plenty of things within this little shop, nothing caught Muri's eye, to which she was disappointed, but she persisted in looking extra carefully for something that might be hidden away. Her attention was stolen when Kweli began wailing and Muri had to tend to him in a nearby mother/child bathroom. After that slight delay, Muri returned with a fresh smelling Kweli and the girls decided to call it quits and find another shop.

"You know, a lot has happened recently and in such a short time, but I feel happy regardless." Muri said, 5 minutes into the walk to the next shop.

"Yeah. Life comes at you fast." Cream agreed.

"I've never had a sister before, did I mention how...happy I felt when you called me sis?" Muri smiled. "I had a kind of sensation I'd never felt before."

"Well, my mom taking not only you and Kweli under her wing brings many sensations. Who knows how many more sensations will occur in the next few weeks."

"Yeah. I'm glad that military stuff is out of the way now though...oh look, there's a nice shop over there." Muri pointed. There stood a larger shop than the last based around children's toys and belongings. "That should have some interesting bits and pieces, right?"

"Only one way to find out."

So the girls headed over, to find Rouge at it's door, but she appeared to be window shopping, or pondering if or not to go in.  
"Hello, Miss Rouge." Muri greeted.

"Well, look at that, it's the girls and the young buck." Rouge said. "So, what amount of poison have you decided to buy today?"

"Poison?" Muri looked confused and a little worried.

"Okay, no more one liner greetings for the moment."  
"So have you been window shopping too?" asked Cream.  
"Yeah, and I still don't know what to get for the new arrival." Rouge shrugs. "Newborn babies are hard to shop for since they have no set prefs yet. This sort of thing confuses me."

"Look for the sparkles." Muri smiled.

"I take it Kweli likes sparkly things..."

"Not what I mean, whilst yes he is interesting in glimmers and other attractive glowing objects, the 'sparkles' I am talking about is a small glimmer in the back of your mind when you see something you want to buy for someone else. You don't quite understand the feeling, but when something feels right, usually it's the option." Muri said. "However, Kirika told me once that a lot of things 'feel right' to me, so I used to end up buying a...how did she say it...oh, 'bunch of crap'."

"I only get that way around jewellery." said Rouge.  
"And that one pendant made out of Jasper." added Cream.  
"Don't go there with the pendant."

"Perhaps a rattle made of shiny balls or small objects that look, feel or seem like jewels?" Muri suggested. "Just a thought. Though, keep in mind it's not for you." And she giggled a bit.

"So what's it like being a mom?"

"Scary, but also the most magical experience I've probably ever had." Muri replied.

"Let's have a look around already." said Cream.

So the girls enter the shop and have a look around. The shop had 2 floors, and the upstairs consisted of giant teddies which Muri was more than happy to fawn over, so much so she ended up sitting next to one and cuddling herself and Kweli in its arms, though she didn't seem to mind that the bear was almost bigger than she was. However, Rouge and Cream managed to get her back downstairs much to the disagreement of the poor rabbit and continued looking downstairs. Muri ended up becoming highly embarrassed later due to Kweli finding and constantly pressing a button dubbed "The Fart Button" to which he had fits of giggles to each time he pressed it.

"Well, isn't that cute." A woman said, being one of many who were noticing Kweli's enjoyment.  
"Um...I guess, but it's kind of embarrassing..." Muri replied before Kweli pushed the button, listened to the noise and laughed at it. "Don't you want to play with something else, Kweli?" Muri almost pleaded to her chuckling son.

Kweli pushed the button again, followed by another giggle riot. Clearly, the young buck was enjoying himself.

"Hey Cream, why not get that for Kweli?" Rouge began laughing at the situation, which only made Muri go a brighter red in the cheeks.

"Toilet humour for developing children is bad." Cream answered. "He can get the same kind of laughs when you blow on his tummy."

"Well, he's enjoying himself anyway." Rouge replied. And the girls continued looking, eventually Kweli tired of the fart button and moved on to looking around for other entertaining things, Muri was relieved to finally get away from that button, but wasn't happy either way.  
"So, did you find anything yet?" She asked.

"Not for Lavender." Cream answered.  
"Man, I'm getting basic stuff for the fox." Rouge answered. "I wish I had the fart button to amuse myself."

"You can still go get it..." Muri said. "Though, I'd rather you didn't."

"Please just leave it, this isn't Rhode Island." said Cream.

"Hey girls." And a Sonic boom shot past. But before long it came around the corner and stopped, Sonic lapped a building before coming to a halt. "Shopping?"

"Yeah. And this is one of the hardest things I've ever done." Rouge answered.

"You used to steal jewels from the highest class of banks and shopping for gifts is hard?" Sonic questioned. "If you can't buy something, make something." He shrugged. "I gave Shadow that lecture already."

"But I'm not good with arts & crafts..." Rouge whined.

"I'm not all the great either, but thought that counts and all, ya know."

"Fine, I guess I'll get her something nice."

"Right, well, I'm gonna juice, so I'll see you some other time, okay?" And Sonic boomed off before anyone could say anything.  
"He's fast..." Muri said.

"He's a lot of things." Cream said. "Anyway, let's try another store unless someone has something to ring up."

"Ring up?" Muri asked. "I'm getting a little hungry."  
"Well, we cou-..." And Rouge was cut off as her phone rang and she answered it. "Hello? Oh, Hiya pres, how's it going?" A small delay. "Uh huh...well, that's interesting." More pause. "I'm not sure they'll like that but I can check." And she places her hand over the receiver. "Cream, some guys from the G.U.N headquarters want to meet with Vanilla at your house, but unlike before this is totally optional."

"I can't answer that question, Rouge." Cream answered.

And Rouge goes back to the phone. "She's unable to answer." She says. Pause. "Fine, but he better know to be careful, Vanilla isn't going to show mercy if he causes trouble..." Pause.  
"What's going on now...?" Muri sighed.  
"Hey, I'm only saying it as it is, Pres...G.U.N really tried to put their foot up Vanilla's backside and got slaughtered because of their total idiocy, I'm just sayin' this guy should watch what he says and does, that's all. Now, if you don't mind, this may be a secure line, but I'm in the general public so we might wanna cut this conversation short for now." One more pause from Rouge. "Fare enough, catch you later then." And she hung up.

"Yeah, let's go grab a bite." Cream said. "I'm sure all of us can go for a meal."

"I hate the military..." Muri sighed. "Is pizza a nice choice?"

"Pizza and maybe a beer." Rouge answered.

"Breast feeding." Muri said.  
"Don't like it." Cream added. "But feel free." And the girls wonder off to a pizza place.

Back with Vanilla, Tia had gotten herself checked out, and the doctor had come up with some interesting results, to which he was explaining with Vanilla. "She has a form of chemical running about the abdomen that I've never seen before, I don't think it's naturally generated, so it might be possible that it's a man made substance. Either way, it's probably one of, if not the cause for Ms Tia's inability to get pregnant. I'd assume her eggs are devoured and destroyed by this chemical."

"How much into her abdomen is it?" asked Vanilla.

"Well...from the readings, it covers every inch of the wombs walls, however, it doesn't appear to be anyware below the cervix. It's more consistent in the Fallopian tubes, so chances are the eggs barely get out of the ovary." The doctor explained.

"Hmm..."

"I'm gonna put my bets on someone decided that she wasn't to have any children."

"And I don't like this scenario..."

"Oh?"

"It's like poison..."

"Indeed, someone has a sick mind to do this. However, I'm sure if we can get some information on the 'poison', we could come up with an antidote of sorts."

"Of course. I will get this personally. Do what you can in the meantime, I will take care of things on my end."

"Of course, Miss Tia will be waiting for you now, but have a print out of the results for yourself, and her if you feel she should keep one." And the doctor printed and passed the papers over in a folder.

Vanilla takes the folder. "Thank you, and best of luck on your end."

The doctor nodded and went back to his work as Vanilla left to meet with Tia.

Tia saw Vanilla approach. "So, what did he say?"

"It's chemical." Vanilla answered.

"Chemical?"

"Yes, chemical."

"Oh...so, it's bad?"

"Yes, it's bad... yet it seems to be solvable."

"You mean, there's a chance for me?"

"Nothing concrete yet, but we're working on it. Apparently, whatever they did to you, your reproductive system is being attacked by this chemical."

It took a moment, but eventually it looked as if Tia could cry. "How could he...?" And she lowered her head. "Everything I've been told was a lie."

"Well, like I said, there's nothing concrete at this time, but at least you know what's going on with your body now." Vanilla said with a more passive tone. "Taking this all in must be a bit rough for you, so I'll give you a thought to process everything..."

"I'd like to call it a day." Tia said. "I need to think about all this and I'm sure you have other things to get to."

"Sure, let me see you out safely." and Vanilla opened the door for Tia.

Tia took her leave to the outside, once the two were outside, Tia turned to Vanilla. "Should we meet again?" She asked.

"That's on you." Vanilla answered.

"Well..." And Tia took a notebook from het bag and pulled a pen, she wrote a number on it and passed it over to Vanilla. "This is my number, call me if you find anything...or want information of your own. I owe you that much."

"Of course. I will inform you once I get more." Vanilla said as she took Tia's number.

With that, Tia bowed and took her leave.

Vanilla then took her leave also, deciding to head for home.

However, upon arriving outside, she noticed G.U.N soldiers were positioned around.

_I wonder what this is about._ Vanilla thought.

Brushing it off, Vanilla proceeded to her apartment, she saw a boy sat in front of her door, cross legged with a chess board, to which he was soloing. Vanilla approached.  
"Mrs Vanilla Rabbit, I presume?" The boy said, looking up from his chess.

"No, I'm her twin sister Toffee. What can I do you for?" Vanilla addresses the lad.

"Oh, my mistake." The boy shifted his arm and grabbed a bundle of roses, stood and passed them to Vanilla, who took them. "When you see Mrs Vanilla, could you pass these along to her. This is my way of personally apologising for the incompetence of G.U.N. I did wish to speak with her for a moment though."

"Give her a few minutes and she'll come around." Vanilla took the roses. "By the way, you have your father's eyes."

"I'm sure I don't know who you're referring to." The boy replied. "It'd also be in his best interest not to bring it up either. You're also very pretty yourself, ma'am. Please excuse me a moment." And he crouched down and shifted the chest set away for Vanilla to go into the house. He then sat next to it, out of the way and continued playing, obviously planning to wait.

"I take it you don't want a glass of juice..."

"A glass of juice would be lovely, thank you." The boy said, not lifting his head from his game. "If I may, mixing with lemonade would be nice too."

"Well, I don't know how to do that. Perhaps you will come and show me."

"Of course I can." The boy said. "If of course that is an invitation inside."

"I guess you like mystery juice."

"I'm not picky." The boy packed away the pieces of chess inside the board and picked it up.

"Well come and show me, I would still like to know about this mix of yours."

So, Vanilla opened her door and let the boy inside. "It's not a challenging mix, really." the boy told her.

"Depending on what juice you use, depends on the quantity of Lemonade, for Juice that is premade without the need of water, you fill half the glass with juice, the rest with Lemonade, as with the juice requiring the use of water, you just switch the water for the lemonade." He explained.

"I see." said Vanilla. "So what do you want mixed with your lemonade?"

"Do you have blackcurrant?"

"Ran out, sorry."

"Then anything other juice will be fine, thank you."

"Yumberry it is."

"This is a nice little place you have, reminds me of my mother's old home." The boy said. "I think it's about time I told you who I am. My name is Tora, and I'm the current general of the G.U.N. military, as the last one and his captain were released due to the incident involving the M.O.M riot."

"Of course you are, asking about an invite gave you away." Vanilla said. "You need a more subtle approach, young man."

"I wasn't going for subtle, besides, the sentry units must have already given my involvement away to begin with, even if it was not my choice for them to be here." Tora explained. "I'm not trying to hide my involvement, and had no intention of deceiving, so I apologise if that's the impression. I simply came for my own reasons, even if it involves work."

"No matter, why else are you here?"

"I was hoping to discuss the Chimera Project."

"And what might that be?"

"Oh yes, I forget that only Vanilla would be aware of the Chimera Project, so I'll wait for her to come out, and hope she is willing to discuss it. However, I shall not blame her if she is not interested in discussing, but I will mention there is an issue involving the Rexchus science company. We have reason to believe they're creating bio-weaponry and are trying to contact Eggman to conspire with him."

"Interesting, sounds like old Egghead is making with old means again. Too bad he plans on using children instead of regular machinery."

"I apologise for my impertinence, Mrs Vanilla, but if we may skip the games, my wanting to involve you is simply because I have become aware of a small fact that there is someone within the facility that you wish to rescue." Tora said.

"See, being subtle is a powerful thing." Vanilla smiled. "And for your record, there is someone there that I will rescue."

"Please excuse my use of tongue. I do not wish to appear as one of the typical asshole generals you now may believe all G.U.N is capable of. Unlike the previous ones, whilst my methods can be merciless in their own mind, I shall not take similar actions as they without solid proof, I have no means to which to attempt blackmail, therefore I shant. Besides, we're all aware of the last event, so I'll proceed with pleasantries. G.U.N is planning to bring Rexchus to the ground, the workers shall be arrested, tested and released depending on whether or not they were working from choice or force. Unfortunately, the president and his council have final say over the fate of the projects." Tora explained.

"Which means you're nothing but an errand boy?"

"If you wish to call me that. I have command over the means to bring down the company, but the president has decided that due to the fact some experiments are possibly human or Mobian alike, a higher vote determines their fate, except for any that you decide to save. I can assure you, my position was granted by majority vote after the leave of the previous General."

"And you plan on striking the killing blow when?"

"I'm afraid that is confidential information, Mrs Vanilla." Tora said, as he took a notepad and wrote on one of the pages, before taking the page, folding it and passing it along to the rabbit.

"Then I guess you don't want my help after all..." Vanilla took the paper.

"I do, but speaking of information in the open might be traceable by possible bugs from our enemies, I make sure to keep some precautions." Tora said as Vanilla looked at the note, the time specified for a week on Thursday, midday.

"Well that makes a lot of sense. We can never be too careful nowadays, right?"

"Indeed." Tora said. "I thank you for your hospitality, Mrs Vanilla. I hope to hear from you, but I shall not hold it against you if you decide not to co-operate, I understand G.U.N is not in a position to ask for favours."

"Especially to those who don't like you."

"I admit, I have a lot of cleaning up to do from my predecessors. I hope that I am able to bring G.U.N back to its respectable state." Tora said.

"You'll have a lot of fun, so long as you don't attack motherhood."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Tora said. "Now, about that drink."

"Yes, yumberry it is..."

As the drink was made, Tora continued speaking. "So, I do wish to ask, for my first day, how have I done?"

"Like I said, you need to be more subtle."

"How would one such as yourself go about this?"

"Just how I did."

"Pretend I have a twin?" Tora questioned.

"You can always act childish."

"I'll ask my sister for tips." Tora said. Vanilla giggles, then passes Tora his yumberry lemonade. Tora takes the drink and downs it in one gulp before placing the glass down. "Thank you, Mrs Vanilla." He said. "I do hope you understand my predicament with my father, and I'd prefer to keep my existence from him for a long while."

"No biggy, I get a lot of young people come by to play chess. One girl had a Mario chessboard. Why Luigi is Mario's queen is beyond me."

"Indeed, personally, I'd have used Peach for the Queen, it does make sense after all." Tora said. "I'm fond of chess, perhaps one day I too can come and play."

"Me too, but she's a bishop. Well, I better see you out. Don't get shot on the way home."

"I'm sure that won't be the case what with all these unwanted bodyguards. Personally, I think I'm in more danger with them around than not." Tora said, as Vanilla showed him the door, he grabbing his chess set on the way out.

"Well, either way, Miss Vanilla, I thank you for your hospitality, I do hope my position won't prevent any future friendships. Until we meet again, I bid you farewell." And Tora bowed, before leaving, Vanilla simply waved.  
"Well, now that that has been sorted, I have a few things I need to prepare, and some phone calls to make." And Vanilla went back inside, closing the door.

((Gonna note it here that Tora is not another OC that'll be sticking around, this part of the story was only to explain the damages of G.U.N after the M.O.M business, and Tora will probably play a larger role in the next story, if there is one. He'll make one more appearance, if that, this story. However, thanks for putting up with the chimera explanation set of chapters, we'll go back to concentrating on Tails for a few chapters now. Thank you for your patience.))


	34. Chapter 34

A/N: Sorry for the wait guys, kattx suffered plant poisoning and was incapable of coming online, but we finally got 'something' to quell the curiosity. And as promised, the whole thing involves Tails, and don't give me any bollocks about it not being, because despite what happens in this, the focus is still Tails. Just enjoy and stop asking me when next update will be because the answers the same. "When it's finished." Thanks for your reviews, I'll make sure to give a kinda 'authors answers' at the end of the story or something. Please visit Palcomix and Mobius Unleashed to find my other works, Tails Tales which is written by me and drawn by Palcomix team, find out more about the new 'V-Team', which will in fact be a follow-up from this story in a sense. Thanks for reading guys, see you next update.

The sun rose, the light breaching the window curtain in Tails room, this light began to phase our pregnant fox, but she managed to turn and lie in a shadier area on the bed, though only for a few minutes. Despite her escape from the light, voices erupted through the keyhole of her door.  
"Hey, Shadow, it's cool to see you and all, but what are you doing here?" Sonic asked from the other room.  
"Quite simply, blue hedgehog, I'm taking care of Tails since you were absent. Unless you've forgotten, your best bud is 7 weeks pregnant, so keeping an eye on her is a must." Shadow replied.  
"Yeah, well, sorry. I've had things to do and she was with the girls the last time I remember." Sonic replied.  
"That was YESTERDAY Sonic, you returned this morning, what would have happened if I weren't around and something happened, huh? Say Tails had a nasty fall and couldn't reach the phone, that could have led to dire circumstances since you weren't around."  
"Yeah, but that didn't happen and you were around anyway, so it's cool."  
"So stop questioning me!"  
"Fine, but one more thing..." Sonic trailed off.  
"Well...?" Shadow sounded somewhat agitated.  
"That pink apron doesn't suit you one bit." A crash was heard after that, which caused Tails to open her eyes a bit.  
"Noisy boys..." She uttered.

Tails wiped her face a little and rolled to the side of her bed, lifting herself up carefully and yawning.  
"Shut up, blue hedgehog! I'm just doing your dirty work, literally!" Shadow barked at Sonic.  
"Yeah, well, I didn't ask you to, you did that on your own." Sonic retorted. "Besides, since when did you care about this sorta thing, cleaning isn't your style."  
"You expect Tails to do all that cleaning? I'll give her credit for her ability to put up with you normally, but the kitchen looked like you'd nuked it, how many chilli dogs do you need anyway?!"  
"You can never have too many chilidogs."  
"Whatever, I cleaned up, so be grateful. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll do the laundry whilst I'm still in a charitable mood." And footsteps were heard walking off.  
"Seriously, that guy has changed big time." Sonic spoke to himself. Tails stood and walked to the door, opening it, to see Sonic still there. "Mornin', pal. Sleep well?" Sonic greeted her.

"Yeah, all the way up to the last five minutes." Tails answered.

"Sorry, did we wake you up?" Sonic looked apologetic.

"I had to wake up anyway. So what's the deal?"

"I came in moments ago and laughed at Shadow cause he's in the apron, you know, the pink one my mom sent for 'me' to clean the house, the one I never used. He got all rats up about it, then I asked about what he was doing here and we got into a fight. But, seems he's been cleaning up the house. I swear, it was like I walked into a whole new place, I barely recognised it." Sonic explained. "But seeing Shadow in that apron was gold. Highlight of the day."

"At least he has no problem with cleaning up."

"Not my style." Sonic shrugged.  
"Probably because if you actually tried, you'd get lost in your own kitchen!" Shadow had returned with a basket of dirty laundry, mostly Tails' since all Sonic had were his shoes and socks.  
"Someone would have cleaned it eventually." Sonic shrugged.

"Hogs will be hogs it seems." Tails said and yawned.

"To be compared to him is insulting." Shadow sighed. "Anyway, Tails. Sorry about waking you up, I'm feeling generous today as you might be able to tell, so feel free to abuse it whilst it lasts."  
"In that case-..." Sonic began.  
"You can go screw yourself, Hedgehog. I said **Tails** can take advantage of my generosity, not you." Shadow interrupted.

"Well, how about you teach Sonic how to clean up." Tails told Shadow.  
"I don't know if I can do the impossible, even as the Ultimate Life Form." Shadow replied, casually.

"Well, how about making us girls some pancakes?" Tails asked instead.

"Now that's something I can do, any specifics I need to know?" Shadow asked.  
"Don't I get pancakes?" Sonic questioned.

"Hey, I said making us girls some pancakes." Tails answered. "Are you a girl now, Sonic?"

"Fine, I know where I ain't wanted. I'm gonna juice to the chilli-dogs waiting my call." And Sonic boomed off.  
"Well, about those specifics." Shadow said, as he placed the laundry out of the way, but in a place he wouldn't forget about it.

Tails just sat on the couch. _Oh well, Sonic is Sonic after all..._ she thought.

"Don't mind him, I think he's just worried." Shadow told Tails, as he walked into the kitchen.

"Worried...."

"In his own way. Perhaps he's worried I am replacing him."

"Oh..."

"Or, perhaps he's worried about your pregnancy and doesn't know how to deal with it. He'll come around. So, how do you want these pancakes?" Shadow asked, still preparing the tools and main ingredients.

"Golden pancakes please?" Tails requested.

"Ok then." And Shadow got to work on cooking. "So, do you have any plans for the day?"

"What day is today?"

"Tuesday." Shadow replied. "When are you due anyway? That's not something you've told people yet, is it?"

"Tuesday... I got a class to do." Tails groaned.

"Want me to take you to Vanilla's after you're ready? Or shall I have her come here? Her or Cream, of course." Shadow questioned, before moving onto the next phase of cooking.

"I think Cream will do."

"Okay." Shadow replied. "When is your class?"

"Later this afternoon."

"No hurry then."

"Well, I'll wait for the pancakes."

"Won't be too much longer." Shadow told her.

After finally preparing Tails food, it was served to her. "I apologise if it's not up to standard."

"No biggy." Tails said. "Can you pass me the syrup?"

Shadow fetched the syrup and handed it to Tails. "Enjoy."

Tails took the syrup and flooded her pancakes with it. Afterwards, she cut a slice of the top pancake with her for and ate it. Seconds later, the entire plate was clean as she even licked the syrup off of the plate.

"Good?" Shadow questioned, not even phased by it.

"That's Lavender eating." Tails answered.

"Did she enjoy it?"

"No complaints."

"That's good. Shall I return to the laundry, or do you want something else?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"Let me know if I can get you anything." And Shadow wondered off back to the basket, to which he picked it up and took it to be finished.

_I hope Sonic isn't too pissed..._ thought Tails.

After a few hours, Shadow finally stopped going back and forth through the house, and Tails was slowly getting tired of the crap on the television. "Well, that's everything. The house is officially spotless...though tomorrow it will probably be destroyed again." Shadow said, with a sigh.

"So, want to do anything?"

"Not sure," Tails answered, "what time is it?"

Shadow looked at the clock. "1:27."

"Let's go for a walk... after you're ready I mean."

"I can go whenever." Shadow shrugged. He stood and turned to Tails, offering a hand, to help her up.

Tails took the hand and was helped to her feet. Seconds later, the two were out and walking about. "You know, I'm really dreading this class..." Tails trailed off.

"Something special or something worrying you about it?" Shadow asked.

"Let's just say I have a bully that I don't know how to handle."

"A bully?"

"Yeah. Some pregnant mothers are really mean."

"How to deal with a pregnant bully...hmm...I wonder if any of your other mother friends, or even Vanilla might know how to handle the situation. As you know, with me, I usually handle problems with violence, but even I know that's not an option in this case." Shadow sighed.

"I don't think that'll manage."

"Talking to Vanilla?"

"I guess I'll have to discuss it with her later."

"Keep in mind these lessons are important to you, therefore if someone is causing problems, you need to get them sorted out, and Vanilla is the only one who I can think of who can help you out."

"Thanks for that."

"However, if you need me to, I'm sure I can sit on the side as an intimidating bodyguard, maybe it'll keep people quiet. But, that's up to you." Shadow offered.

"That would pose too many questions, but I'll probably need your body guarding services later."

"From egghead? Or another reason?"

"For various reasons."

"Let me know. I'll be there in a chaos control flash, you know that." Shadow smiled at her.

"Okay."

"So, what'll we do now?"

"Let's keep walking around, but let me know when it's two."

"That your appointment?" Shadow asked, as the two continued walking.

"No, that's when I should start getting ready for it." Tails cleared up.

"Gotcha."

The two continued to walk around, until eventually it hit 2 pm. Shadow checked the time. "Well, that's that. Clocks hit 2."

"Well, let's get back to the house." said Tails.

So, with that, the two turned to go the fasted route back to the house. "Are you going to phone Vanilla?" Shadow asked.

"I might." Tails answered.

"Well, remember that if you need me for anything, just ask." Shadow assured her.

When the two got to the house, Cream was there waiting for them. "Well look at you two, enjoying a stroll I see." she greets them.

"Indeed, I'll wait out here, so you girls can get ready." Shadow said.

Tails goes inside the house. "Say, Shadow? I was wondering something, did you get a gift for Lavender?" asked Cream.

"That's for me to know." Shadow replied.

"I see. Well, I better get inside to help Tails out. We'll be headed to her class afterwards."

"I better stick around, you never know who'll crop up if I leave."

"Noted." and Cream goes inside the house.

Having gotten prepared and escorted by Shadow to the class, Cream and Tails were left to be, after Shadow warped off, however he simply sat on a building roof to keep watch. He knew deep down if Eggman tried anything, he wouldn't be subtle about it. Meanwhile, Tails let out a deep sigh. "I'm not looking forward to this..." She said.

"No worries, Tails." Cream assured Tails. "There will be nothing to fear this time around."

"Aqua was the one who made Shena shut up, and with her out of the picture, Shena is queen in this place...or so she'll believe." Tails replied. "Well, no avoiding it. Let's go in then." And Tails wondered into the class.

"True, but remember what we learned about her recently. It's enough to deal with her... and if not, I have a backup plan."

"Please, PLEASE let today go without problems..." Tails sighed. With that, she opened the doors to the class, awaiting the friendly...and unfriendly faces of the pregnant mothers.

_Well, now we wait for the lesson._ Thought Cream.

After a bit of chatter, Saffron enters the classroom and addresses everyone. "Well everyone, this class has had its memorable moments." Saffron said. "So let's take a moment to reflect on some of the highlights of the class. Does anyone care to discuss a memorable moment to them in this class?"

"Muri's unexpected 'birthday'." Tails said.

"And how was that memorable?"

"Despite the fact it scared us all, the teamwork and co-operation of everyone, including Charmy, was beautiful, and thanks to everyone's help, Muri delivered quickly and safely. The class was cut short, but it also taught most of us what we have coming." Tails explained.

"Yes, Charmy was so stressed out after he told me about the live birth. How is Muri by the way... if you know that is?"

"She's doing much better, whilst there were a lot of events after the birth which upset her, she's becoming a wonderful parent, and if she ever has any problems, she always has Cream and Vanilla to lean onto if she needs to." Tails explained.  
"You mean she's still being babied, even though Kirika is gone." Shena grinned. "She'll never grow if she's always pampered."

"And what have you taken as a memorable moment of this class, Shena?" asked Saffron.

"Getting rid of both the brat and the white 'princess'." Shena shrugged.

"We had royalty in this class?"

"In her own mind anyway, that Aqua was dreadfully annoying."

"I see. So did you enjoy anything in the class lesson or example-wise?"

"Not really." Shena sighed.  
"Geez, if you dislike it so much, why do you bother coming..." Tails uttered to herself, but it didn't get by Cream's ears.

"By the way, how have you been feeling as of late?" asked Saffron. "I heard you were a bit under a while back, Shena."  
"Probably under her whipped man." Cream commented, this caused a few giggles from the other couples.

Shena shot Cream a nasty glare. "Only weak careless girls let the male dominate. Ask your freak-tailed friend, she knows all about that, doesn't she?" She grinned. "The only thing I regret about being under the weather is that I wasn't there to watch Muri scream and suffer as she birthed that demon-spawn."

"Be nice, everyone." said Saffron.  
"No, let's vent. One thing my mom has told me is that sometimes, pregnant mother get stressed and need to vent. Besides, I wonder if you were too busy dominating your man to get left in a Lamaze class by yourself. Being a lot nicer to the father of your child helps with parental development. I mean, Seifa is the father of your child, right?" Cream replied.

"Well of course, I'm not a whore who doesn't know the father of my child, but you've yet to show anyone the father of your child, Tails. Oh, right, that must be it. You've no idea."  
"I'm leaving..." Tails stood up.  
"Run away, I don't care, just one less nuisance to deal with."  
"I'm sorry, there's a boarder we all must cross when tempted and I'm crossing it. Just what the fuck is your problem anyway?" The echidna with many coloured locks, Mikuru, started. "All you've done since these classes started is bitch about someone else, first it was Poor Muri, then Aqua and now that they're gone, you want to get in Tails face? Sorry, but I'm only putting up with so much."

_I hope this is a positive way to relieve stress..._ thought Saffron.

"Okay, no one is leaving." Cream said. "Mikuru, what was a memorable moment of this class to you?"

"Not having that complacent ignorant woman in class. That day everything went relatively smoothly and peacefully, until Muri went into labour. Though, I do think those videos we watched helped a lot, and I thought the bath training was fun."

"Does anyone else have a problem with Shena's bitter attitude?"

With a slight pause, with only Tails and Mikuru holding hands up, eventually some other hands raised to join them.

"Now Shena, I don't mean to sound out of place, but everyone agrees that you have been... unreasonable towards some of the other classmates." Vanessa said. "Perhaps a nicer approach couldn't hurt."

"Or just shut up completely." Tails added.

"Now that won't help her. Silence only builds misery, which ends up being turned on us. And that isn't healthy for either of them, as I read in the books." Tails simply silenced herself and sat, facing away. She rested her head in her hand for a bit.  
"Fine, I'll keep my opinions to myself, but as for you, Tails, I'm still waiting to see the 'daddy' of your child. Perhaps its shame that keeps him away. Continue the class, I don't care." And Shena leant back in her chair.

"Perhaps shame is keeping your man quiet." Cream commented. "Even fathers need to vent too you know. I mean, it was him who told us that you got pregnant out of wedlock."

"Okay, let's cut this now." said Saffron.

"No, this is a venting exercise and it's obvious that Shena needs to vent the most." Cream said. "I want to try Vanessa's approach of having her speak out on her bitter mood."

Seifa stood up, placing his hands in his pockets. Shena looked up at him.  
"Where do you think you're going?" She said, sternly.  
"Right...let's see, how do I do this in the way you would. Oh yeah...fuck you." And he walked out.  
"Wait, what the..." And Shena simply watched as the doors closed behind him. "Coward..."

"See, perhaps a bit of kindness towards Seifa will have him come back into class." suggested Cream.

"Don't be silly, Cream, Shena doesn't know the meaning of the word." Tails commented. Shena then looked towards the two, her face became vicious.  
"Pipe down, pipsqueaks, or I'll start raging, then neither of you will be leaving this building unscathed." She spoke, nastily.  
"Um...I think this exercise of yours is getting a bit out of control..." Mikuru exclaimed, getting slightly worried.

"Not really, things are going as planned." said Cream.

Cream then stood in front of Shena. "It's time to get you set straight." she said.  
"Like a runt like you can help with me. No thanks." Shena said.  
_Fine, it's time you answer for your actions, Shena._ Cream thought. "I get it, I get everything about you now and I should've noticed it before. Te constant nagging about others being beneath you and calling everyone weak, the truth is that you're scared."  
Shena was irritated at the response. "Scared, don't make me laugh, twerp."  
"You don't want to admit that you're afraid, so you act like a pompous bitch around everyone. You don't want anyone to figure it out by putting on a tough routine, but deep down is nothing but fear."

"Fear?!" Shena roared, then stood up. "I have nothing to fear, I'm pregnant, but not scared of anything."  
"You're scared of being kind and that will be your downfall."  
"Downfall, you mean like this?" and Shena shoves Cream to the floor. "That must've been your downfall. Hah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"  
Cream stood up. "Was that a shove? I've seen more force in a car door, you can do better than that."

"You twerp, I have plenty of shove." and Shena shoves Cream to the ground again.  
Cream stood up and dusted herself off. "I think Seifa isn't the real father of your child, why else would he have such resentment towards you? He must really be unhappy with you, but I don't blame him. If I were him, I would leave your abuse ass high and dry too."  
That was the last straw for Shena and she backhands Cream across the face, knocking her to the ground. The action shocked everyone, but no one helped in fear of taking Shena's wrath.

"It's time you had your punishment, twerp. And it's one your mother should've gave you." Shena said.  
"Punish me then, if you're merciless enough." said Cream.  
Shena's rage continued as she stomped angrily on Cream. Tails was shocked and scared at the result and Saffron was about to intervene when she saw Cream laughing at Shena. _What is she planning?_ The bee thought.  
"You aren't properly stomping a mud hole, woman." Cream taunted. "Do it correctly, I don't even feel like bowling over yet."  
"Oh you'll bowl over." Shena said while stomping on Cream. "You'll beg, you'll cower in my presence, you'll..." and suddenly, Shena stopped to clench her stomach. "Oh, ohhh, what in the name of...."  
Seconds later, Shena fell to her knees clenching her stomach and moments later, a puddle of blood and amniotic fluid formed under her. "No... What the..." Shena trailed off. "Such pain..."

Cream finally stood on her feet. "We'll look at you." she began. "Not only have you induced your labour, you're also bleeding. Now normally, a mix of blood and mucous can occur, but-"  
"Shut up you twerp, this is--Errrr, aaaahhh, damn this pain!" Shena cried out while clenching her belly.  
"Foolish woman, your own rage caused your baby to become distressed." Cream said. "Now if the proper action isn't taken, you'll lose your baby."  
"I don't want, nor need your help!" Shena cried out in pain.  
"Too bad this isn't about you anymore... Anyway, does anyone know how to help Shena out?"

"Saffron?" Tails questioned. "Surely you know what to do in this situation, right?"

"I do, but I don't think Shena wants, nor needs my help." Saffron said. "I'll go and find Seifa, he might know what to do." and Saffron left the classroom.  
"Well, I know what to do, thanks to my Mom's advice and teaching." Cream said.  
"You must be having fun taunting me while I suffer in agony." Shena said.  
"I offered to help, but you don't want it."

"Ignore the arrogant woman, even if she doesn't want help, her child didn't ask to be conceived and isn't asking to die like this. Even if she doesn't want to give birth safely, the child shouldn't have to suffer from her arrogance." Mikuru stood up.

Saffron came back into the room with Seifa. "Well, I have no problems with delivering a baby... I mean, I already know how it works on both ends." said Cream. "By the way, how are you holding up, Shena?"

"Shut up already." Shena replied.  
"You shut up, you arrogant bitch. Do as they say or so help me..." Seifa wasn't happy.  
"OR what?! What'll you do to m-...aahhhh...shit!" Shena keeled over.  
"How about some treatment you gave Muri, don't deliver my child, if he's mine, safely, and I'll throw you in with Irum...I'm sure she'll be less friendly with you than she was with Muri." Seifa threatened. Shena was quiet other than heavy breathing for a while.  
"Fine...you win. I'll cooperate..." She faltered.

"Seifa, I'll let you remove her unmentionables." said Cream.

"First things first, she can't stay as a heap like that, can she?" Seifa questioned.

"Well, we can always put her on a table like we did Muri."  
"I will get some towels." said Saffron.

Seifa then removed his jacket and tossed it aside. He walked behind Shena and forcefully, but also gentle lifted her into his arms, walking over to the table. Mikuru and Tails were quick to go over and remove the objects safely onto the floor, and Shena was placed on the table on her back, she cringed and yelled in pain, but Seifa ignored her and walked to her lower end, before he shifted her dress and removed her panties.

_Ah, the fall of pride... I thank you for teaching me such an invaluable lesson._ Cream thought.

"I'm gonna kick that rabbit's ass..." Shena uttered.  
"Don't bet on it, her mother is a ruthless fighting machine, capable of defeating things beyond even that Shadow the Hedgehog guy, so she'd probably kick your ass before you could comprehend the situation. So shut up." Seifa told her, before parting her legs. "There, all set."

Cream rubs her hands as she approached Shena. "The lesson of this example is this, mothers," she said. "When a mother is pregnant, things are no longer about you. This is what I have learned during this exercise. Hopefully you will remember this example as your child grows. It's no longer about you, it's about your child." and Cream looks at the situation.

"Yeah, Shena's in no position to threaten people at the moment." Tails said. "I hope the child's okay..." Shena kept quiet, but she wasn't happy.  
"So you know, Shena. I'm not going to be pushed around anymore, I'm taking the trousers back in this relationship, and even if it's not my kid, I'm gonna raise it. If you don't like it, I'll see your ass in court."  
"Fucker..." Shena barked, louder than she expected due to more pain and cringing.

"Ambulance is on its way." said Vanessa.  
"That's good to hear, and things are looking pretty well." said Cream. "Try to relax a bit more and things should be ready on your end."

"Why am I doing this?" Shena roared.  
"Irum." Seifa said. Shena then sighed and tried to relax, despite her pains and rage.

Cream places her hand just above Shena's womanhood. "Well, feels like the stage is set." she said. Tails, pass me my backpack please."

"You're as set as Vanilla, aren't you? You've been planning this for some time, haven't you?" Tails said as she retrieved the bag, bringing it over to Cream.  
"You _**planned**_ to do this to me! I'll kill you, I swear!" Shena barked.  
"Oh, pack it in!" Seifa told her. "You deserve it for all the grief you caused, so you have no place to speak!" He turns to Cream. "Please try to ignore her, I'd lie saying it's the pain talking, but no one would believe that. I apologise for all the shit she's caused to you and your family." He bows to her, apologetically.  
"You're such a pansy." Shena taunted him, laughing, before she cringed again. "God, this sucks!"  
"You caused it. Besides, she taught me to man up, so that's what I plan to do." Seifa told Shena.

"I planned this pack for Tails since she's almost near term." Cream answered. "As for your pregnancy going early, that was all you. And feel free to push on your next contraction." Cream then puts on a pair of white gloves and prepares to catch.

"Thanks Cream." Tails smiled happily.

"We should make a backpack for such a situation." said Vanessa.

"Wow, Cream's more prepared than most of us. I'm learning a lot from this." Mikuru smiled.  
"Yeah, Shame **we** didn't learn anything from them, ey 'darlin'." Seifa mocked Shena.  
"Whateve---Ahh!!" And as told by Cream, Shena pushed hard on this contraction.

"Okay, that looks nice." Cream said.

"Wow, Cream..." Tails said. "I hope you're around when I go into labour, I'll be lost without you or Vanilla."

Cream smiled. "When you have a mother like mine, you learn to be prepared."

"I guess so." Tails replied. She then patted her belly smiling. "You hear that, Lavender? We're in good hands."

"Of course you are."

"Can we get back to me ple-...Aaaahhh FUUUCK!" Shena barked. "I'm definitely killing you for this Seifa."  
"Sure, sure, keep the rage on me, better than insulting those trying to help you anyway." Seifa sighed.

Cream watches the head of Shena's baby come out slightly, then it begins to go back in. "That was a good one." she said.

Shena doesn't speak anymore, she just breathes, waits, contracts and pushes hard again.

_I see she's finally calmed down now. I guess this is exactly what she needed... to trust people._ Thought Saffron.

"It's nice to see you're behaving yourself." Cream joked. "I only wondered why you couldn't be this temperate when the class began."

"Just you wait, I'll have revenge, I swear it...!" Shena spat, getting more annoyed.

"Revenge? You only have yourself to blame for distressing yourself into labour. Can someone bring me another clean towel?" Tails wonders off to fetch one.  
"I hate you so much." Shena said. Seconds later, another contraction and she pushed to it. Tails returns with several towels for use.

"This looks really well, Shena." Cream said. "And as a reminder, your hate is the reason why you're delivering right now, so try being kind for a change. Also, the shoulders are coming out, so pace your breathing." Cream then switches to a new towel.

Meanwhile, at Club Rouge, Rouge had shut down for the whole day, specifically for one purpose. Decorations were being set up by Marine, Blaze, Shade and Knuckles, whilst Sonic, Vanilla, Rouge, Omega and Muri were handling gifts of all sizes into the shop from a truck outside. Amy, Tikal and Vanilla were preparing foods.

"This should be fun, I hope Tails appreciates the work we're all doing." Amy said, fixing up the salads, under Vanilla's specific orders.

"I'm sure both of them will enjoy this." said Tikal.

"I gotta ask, cause I'm only curious to know, but is Shadow 'confirmed' as Lavenders father, not biologically, but officially, in the sense?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious."  
"More like your scared Tails might ask Sonic to be her father, then you have no luck whatsoever in getting him." Knuckles chuckled.

"Muri, switch places with Knuckles, Knuckles you go bring in some of the heavier things, and Muri can continue with what you're doing." Vanilla said.  
"Um, sure, okay..." Muri said, putting down the last small box.  
"Bout time, I suck at decorations..." Knuckles said before walking out to pick up the heavy loads with Omega.  
"Tell me about it." Shade stated. "Knuckles! You put this sign upside down!"

Tikal shook her head. "Still, does it matter who Lavender's father is?" she asked.

"Well...no, I guess not..." Amy said.  
"Still jealous!" Came a quiet shout from outside from Knuckles.  
"Shut up, Knucklehead."  
"Hm, Lavenders father, eh?" Sonic pondered to himself, rubbing his chin.  
"You're not really considering it, are you Sonic?"  
"Better than fathering your children." Sonic grinned. Amy's veins popped out of her forehead as she clenched her fists, still not having any of her hammers.  
"Looks like these two are back to normal, considering early differences..." Blaze said.

Rouge finally walks into the scenario. "What are you people babbling about now?" she asked.

"Amy's getting jealous of Tails again." Muri said.  
"I am not getting jealous!!" Amy retorted.  
"But you are getting angry about it."  
"I....I....I only asked a question, why is everyone on my case all of a sudden? Do I have 'piss on' written on my forehead or something?"

"Actually, it's on your back." Tikal answered.

"Oh just forget it." And Amy puts down her cooking utensils and walks off, sitting in a corner.

"Vanilla, how come you haven't been playing peacekeeper here?" asked Rouge.

"Tails isn't here yet, it's best that Amy get all of this off her chest before she arrives so I don't have to grill her during our festivities." Vanilla replied. "If it comes down to it though, you'll have more than 'piss on' written on your body, Amy."  
"Hey, I asked a question, it's everyone else you should be grilling, I'm the victim here!" Amy retorted.

"To be fair, it _was_ Mr. Knuckles who started it." Muri added.

"Hey, I'm allowed to burn you on this one.... especially since you went 'hammer happy' on me." said Tikal.  
"Enough, ALL OF YOU!" Rouge yelled, "I will not have this ruined because people want to be smart-asses. This isn't about making fun of Amy, it's about showing our love for Tails and Lavender."

"So, do you think Lavender and Kweli will grow up as good friends?" Muri asked, changing the subject.

"Of course they will, especially since their births are close." Vanilla answered.

"What if they become lovers when of age?" Amy giggled from the corner.

"I'll make sure to videotape their first time." Vanilla answered.

Muri blushes brightly. "Video tape...their first time? You mean sex?"

"Is something the matter?"

"Is that legal?"

"Most religions have physical testimonials of their first time. I still have the video of my first time with Cream's father.... boy did he have a lot to unload..." and Vanilla swoons a bit.

Muri then collapses, but Shade quickly checks on her.  
"I think that was TMI, Vanilla..." She said.

"Poor girl, she'll never get used to porn that way." and everyone else shares a laugh.

Except Tikal, who didn't seem amused.

_I will never understand the mating rituals of today._ she thought.

"By the way, I do recall the suggestions that Kweli's conception was forced on Muri, so I don't think it's very funny that you're laughing at her just because she can't handle a little sex talk." She told the others.

"We will never be able to predict what the future holds, but it's obvious that Kweli is close to her." Vanilla noted. "Well, now that the food looks well, let's continue with the decor." Shade takes Muri to recover on a seat, then goes back to what she's doing.

Meanwhile back at class, Shena's deliver is coming to a close. "Okay momma, you're pretty much done." Cream said. "One last good push and this little one will be born."  
_This is incredible, two babies were born in my class..._ thought Saffron.  
"Okay Seifa, what do you think of things so far?"

Seifa simply looks away, not replying.  
"Fuuuuuuuck!" Shena screams, one more heavy push to her contraction.

Ironically, everyone was on pins and needles hearing Shena scream, and moments later, crying was soon heard. After quite some time, and after a bit of pride being swallowed, Cream was holding a first delivered newborn. "Well look at this, the little guy has a nice set of lungs." she said.

"Little guy? So..." Seifa looks over, as Shena collapses to relax, though still conscious.

"Yup, little guy."

"Well, congratulations...not that you really deserve it..." Tails said to Shena, who was so exhausted she couldn't even get angry to reply.

"Tails, be nice. Shena may have treated everyone less than stellar, but that still doesn't give you the right." Cream said while cleaning off the newborn. "What time is it by the way?"

"Seems the ambulance has arrived...too late, once again." Mikuru giggled.  
"Sorry Cream..." Tails lowers her ears.  
"3:26."

"An afternoon baby, not bad." Cream says while looking at the scale. "Well, he's a small guy too, only six pounds, thirteen ounces."

"He is a week and a bit early." Seifa said, he smiled for the first time, possibly ever. "He is okay though, right?"

"Well, his lungs are strong, not sounding gurgly, so he's otherwise just needs a bit of parental love. Now why don't you come on over and cut this cord."

At this time, the paramedics enter the room.

"You know, I'm glad you guys made it. This family is ready to go." said Saffron.  
"Thanks a lot." one of the paramedics said.  
Cream hands Seifa a clipboard with a form on it. "You'll need this to help you out with the medical stuff at the hospital." she told him. "Hopefully, you two will learn to show compassion for each other and your son."

With this, the cord was cut, the afterbirth sorted, and Shena moved into a wheelchair and pushed outside, the rest following out of respect, or fatherhood in Seifa's case, one of the medics with the son.  
"Stop." Shena said, the paramedics then stopped, for a moment.*

"I still want to know, why exactly didn't the father of your child show up?" Shena questioned Tails.  
"Because I forced myself not to, knowing I can have a rather nasty temper." Shadow walked up.  
"You..?"

"Is something wrong?" asked Tails.

"Shadow the Hedgehog is the father of your child?" Shena almost seemed out of it, as if disbelieving.

"Maybe we should let you get some medical attention, I mean, this wasn't an ideal pregnancy."

"Agreed." and the Paramedics continued.  
"Oh wow, so you're the father?" Mikuru questioned. "I thought Shadow the Hedgehog was untameable, you must have some serious guts to make a baby with him, Tails."  
"And this would be the reason I didn't come." Shadow said.  
"Why did you show up now?"  
"I sensed distress."

"Well, this is enough excitement for one day, so I'll end class on this note." said Saffron. "I will also wish everyone luck."

"Saffron, I think I'll say my goodbyes and thank you's now. I don't think I'll be attending another class." Tails told her.

"I guess, I don't blame you, you and Muri have really been through a lot. And I'm sure with the coach like yours, you shouldn't have too many problems."

"It's not due to problems, or what I've been through, it's just that your next class is set too close to my due date, and whilst the care and comfort for the two mothers who birthed during class comforts me, it still terrifies me. If I am the next to give birth, I'd be nice to make it to the hospital for birth. If not that, I'd rather be surrounded by my more personal friends and family."

"Yes, I think two class births is enough for all of us."  
"That's for definite." Mikuru mentions, along with everyone else nodding in agreement.  
"Well, I understand that." Saffron said. "Take care of her you two. Especially you, Mr. Man."

"I intend to." Shadow replies. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah, I'm done packing up." said Cream.

Tails hugs Shadow warmly as Cream walks over with her things. After the small one-sided embrace, Tails turns to the other mothers, the ambulance leaving.  
"It was really nice to meet all of you. I hope you all well with your future joy bundles." She tells them.

"Take care."

And with that, the three leave.

(So you know, Shena and Seifa, plus all the other preggo's involved in this will not make anymore appearances. Thanks for reading.)


	35. Chapter 35

(Authors notes: To the reviewers who think they know what they're talking about, just because you don't enjoy this story, don't feel your reviews are actually worth anything, I thank you for your feedback and will keep it in mind for the future, but for this story, you can take your opinions, fix them to something sharp and push that into your own faces. Now, I don't mind you giving a review, but don't you dare tell people to skip this story, people enjoy this story even if you don't, so do everyone a favour, review peoples work who actually give a crap what you say. Also, if you end up reading this message, I've won, simply because for your reviews to mean what they do, you wouldn't come back to continue reading.)

Cream, Shadow and Tails walked down the sidewalk heading who knows where, but all that is certain is that the trio has turned a lot of heads after the Lamaze class. "Now why couldn't you come with me to all of my other classes? Do you know how much more tolerable things could've been for me if you had?" Tails questioned Shadow.

"You seemed certainly more comfortable with Vanilla and Cream." Shadow replied. "Besides, you know how bad I can get with my temper; I can make that woman look like a happy puppy on a summer walk."

"Happy puppy on a summer walk, that's an interesting anagram. Besides, Vanilla can't be with me all the time and Cream can only do so much... No offense, Cream."  
"None taken." Cream said with a bubbly expression.

"Why didn't you ask? I did offer earlier but you declined...So what am I supposed to do?" Shadow asked.

"Hope for Sonic to take her?" Cream guesses.

Shadow scoffs, obviously disapproving of the idea.

"So, does this mean we're going to grab a bite to eat?" asked Tails.

"Sure, why not?" Shadow replied.

"Hey, look over there!" Cream cried pointing over yonder.  
"Where?" Tails looks over.

Two seconds later, Tails is soon blindfolded. "Hey, what's going on here?" she questioned.  
"Just relax, and let your nose be your eyes." Cream answered.

Shadow places his arms behind his head. "Interesting..." He muttered. "I wouldn't worry too much, Tails, you'll send yourself into a premature labour, so it's probably best to keep relaxed, and let Cream have her fun."

"But I wanna see..." Tails whined.

"Just play along, what harm can possibly come?"

"Hopefully none."

"No hopefully about it, we won't let harm come to you." Shadow assured her. "Or to Lavender."

"Yeah, no scares." Cream said as she stood behind Tails. "Now let's go you two."

Shadow grins. "Shall I stay here then?"

"Just come on." He sighs, and then walks with the two.

_I hope Shadow doesn't ruin this._ thought Cream.  
After a while, Cream and Shadow had taken Tails to Club Rouge, however all of the lights were off and the windows were covered by black blinds. Silence from the black hedgehog.

"Well, here we are." Cream told Tails.  
"Finally." Tails said.

"And now, let's go on... inside."

"Can I at least take the blindfold off now?"  
"What do you think, Shadow? Do you think the blindfold can come off now?"

Shadow walks into the dark club. "Sure, but uh...yeah..." He can't see anything inside, but not wanting to give anything away, keeps hush.

"Fine." and Cream removes the blindfold from Tails' eyes.  
Tails finally saw where she was. "Club Rouge, but why here?" she asked.  
"Go on inside." Cream said.

Tails goes inside the dark club. _I wonder why all of the lights are off._ She thought while using her hands to see. Eventually, her hands came across a light switch, which is flicked on. "Surprise! Baby Shower!" everyone yelled.  
"Holy crap." Tails was half shocked and half embarrassed. Shadow was there to support Tails, making sure she didn't fall over or anything.  
"What's wrong, Tails? You didn't think we wouldn't throw you a baby shower, did you?" Tikal giggled.

"I... I don't know what to say." Tails was at a loss for words.

"How about not saying anything, and just enjoy yourself." Shadow told her.

"Can someone get me a chair please?"

Shadow smiles, and walks Tails over to one of the sofa, almost one of the very few not covered with things.

"So what first, Tails, pressies or muchies?" Tikal asked.

"Um, a quick bite and then gifts." Tails answered.

"So, let's do the starters then."

"No complaints here."

Tikal and Vanilla get salads prepared whilst the boys put tables together to make a dining table; all sit around as the starters are served.

"So aside from this, what all did you guys do today?" asked Tails.

"Mostly this, and a few private matters with a certain individual." Tikal replied.  
"I've been sorting this all day, so nothing exciting from me." Vanilla added.  
"Knuckles showed me some 'Knuckles tribe' secrets." Shade said.  
"In the bedroom, gigitty." Knuckles said, before being punched in the face by Shade. "I was kidding."

"I knew Shade wasn't interested in you." Tails said.

"No, they fuck religiously." Tikal countered.  
"We do not!" Shade blushed furiously, angrily glaring at Tikal.

"I wouldn't know about that sort of thing.... except on Valentine's and White Day." Tails said.

"Explain." Amy said, curious.

"Who explains?" asked Cream.

"Tails."

"Well, what's there to explain?" asked Tails.

"How do you mean 'except on Valentines, and so on'?" Amy asked.  
"Why are most of our gathering meal conversations based on sex all the time?" Sonic asked, curious.  
"Sorry, Sonic. Guess you wouldn't know how to join in, having not had sex before." Shadow responded.

"I'm happy to change that." Amy said, delightfully.

"Well, some things just don't change between friends it seems." said Rouge.

"Sorry Amy, still wouldn't touch you with an 80 foot barge pole." Sonic said, eating more food, causing Amy to huff in frustration.

"This reminds me of a soap opera." said Cream.  
"More like that porno of Sonic's called The Young and the Breastless." Tails said.

"Huh? Since when?" Sonic questioned.

"I think I saw that one at his place." said Cream.

"Sonic needs to get laid." Knuckles said.

Blaze and Marine finally walk in and notice everyone the table. "Look at all of you ready to grub and whatnot." said Marine.

"Join us, plenty to go around." Tikal said.  
"Cream, why don't you show Sonic a good time?" Vanilla suggested.

"Don't mind if I do." said Marine.

"So what else did you guys do?" asked Cream.

"You shouldn't ignore your mother, Cream." Vanilla said.  
"Eh, Cream'd be a lot better than Amy any day." Sonic said, before taking another bite of food.  
"Hey..." Amy just looked a little sad now.

Cream smiled with a sweat drop on her brow. "I guess you like younger girls, eh Sonic?" asked Tails.

"Any girl is better than Amy." Sonic said. "No offence or anything Cream, but I'd happily do you 100 times before even considering touching Amy."

"Do you like them pregnant?" Tails joked.

"Is that an offer?" Sonic asked, this made Shadow snarl a little. "Don't get jealous Shadow. After all, I am the coolest dude on the planet."

Marine just shook her head. "So what's new with all of you guys?" she asked.

"Not much, though watching this is entertaining." Vanilla mused.  
"So, Cream. How would you like to date the coolest piece of blue on the planet?"  
"You don't have to do that to spite me, Sonic." Amy sighed sadly.

"Things are good in my world." Shade said. "And you?"

"So-so." Marine answered.  
"I think I'll wait, Sonic." Cream answered Sonic.

"Hah, shot down by the youngest. Sonic, you need new material." Knuckles laughed.  
"At least I'm not trying to get in the panties of someone who can kick my ass all over Angel Island." Sonic mocked.  
"Watch it, hedgehog."  
"I wouldn't want to, knucklehead."

"How have you held up, Muri?" asked Tails.

"Does this always happen?" Muri asked in response.

"What do you mean by 'this' Muri?" asked Cream.

"Sex talk and arguing."

"I feel sorry for Sonic, first time asking someone out and gets shot down before he's even taken off." Tikal chuckled. "Well, second time."

"Mostly." Tails answered. "Normally the chat is tamer."

"Tame and Amy doesn't mix." Knuckles said, before Amy punched him in the arm. "Ow! Do I have something that says 'hit me' written on my body somewhere?"

"You shouldn't leave yourself open like you do." Rouge answered.  
"That and you fall for traps." added Cream.

"Let's keep violence to a minimum, remember, this is for Tails, and we don't need blood baths." Vanilla assured everyone.

"Yes please. Tails and I have seen enough blood for one day." Cream added.

"How so?"

"The most annoying mother in class went into labour and I delivered."

"I see...I assume the ride was most unpleasant?"

"Done now." Sonic stood, took his plate and took it to the back kitchens to wash.

"Yes." Tails answered.

"Was it a birth by nature, or birth by punishment?" Vanilla asked.

"Her rage caused her son to go into distress." Cream answered.

"I see, also, at some point, Cream, I'd like to go over your bruising." Vanilla said, taking another elegant bite of food.

"Do the shoves I took show?"

"You can't hide things from your mother." Vanilla replied.  
"What happened anyway?" Muri asked.

"I suggested that pregnancy exercise you told me about having mothers vent to relieve pregnancy stress, but Shena took things too physical and it led to her early labour."

"I see...I'm sorry." Muri said.

"Done too." Knuckles follows Sonic.

"Well, let's get in a few gifts." said Tails.

"Here you go." Said Rouge, passing over a small wrapped box.

"Thanks." Tails took the present and unwrapped it. After it was unwrapped, Tails looked at the gift. "So what is this?"

"It's a handmade baby dial. Once Lavender starts bawling, you push the button and the dial spins, where it lands, that's who deals with it." Rouge explained. "I found one in the shop, but the dial was set so most landing would be you Tails, so I set it so Shadow can have an equal amount of work."

"Interesting." Tails said.

"Hey look, one small space says Sonic." Muri said, looking into the dial.  
"Yeah, I put that there for shits and giggles." Rouge laughed.

"Here ya go, open up mine next." Marine said as she gave her gift to Tails.  
"This is a small box..." Tails said, a bit confused.  
"Well, you know what they say about small packages." Marine reminded.  
"Yeah, bad bedfellows." Rouge joked.  
The joke caused Vanilla and some of the girls to laugh.

Tails opens the gift and pulls out what looks like a charm. "Hey, it's a web thing... I forgot the actual name of this." she said.  
"It's a dream catcher." Marine explained. "These sort of things are good for the rooms of new arrivals. Place it over the crib and sweet dreams for baby."

"Aww, that's sweet." Muri said. Sonic and Knuckles come back.

"So, next gift please?" said Tails.

Shade slides a card over to Tails. "Sorry, I'm not all that great as this stuff, so this is all I could do for you." She said.

Tails looks at the card... "Interesting, a feeding Card." she said.

"Yeah, after her feed, time how long it takes before the next feed and the card can get a good estimate on how long it will be till the next one. Though, knowing babies, it still probably won't be accurate all the time." Shade said.

"I see."

"I think I'll put this out here now, but there's more from me to come." Vanilla said, as she pushed two boxes over, one to Tails, and one to Muri.  
"Huh? I don't get it, me also?" Muri seemed somewhat confused.  
"Well, of course, you have recently had a baby too. Just open up." Vanilla smiled at the two.

"You first, Muri." Tails said.

"Um..." Muri sweat dropped a bit.  
"You might as well both do it, it's the same thing." Vanilla said. So Muri began carefully removing the wrapping paper from the plain box.

"Okay this should be interesting." said Marine.

Tails does the same, and with the opening of the boxes, the two pull out scarves, Tails being red and Muri's being blue, however they appear to be way to large for simply warmth.  
"I'm confused." Muri said.  
"They're breast-feeding scarves, encase your little ones decide it's dinner time in a public place, if you wish to breastfeed them, you don't have to embarrass yourselves in public by giving everyone a flash." Vanilla told them. "Though, back in my day, there was nothing wrong with flopping your boob out and letting the baby feed. And Cream was often hungry in public places. I felt no shame in it, as it was for Cream."

A few giggles and cheesy grins were had. "Of course mom will bring up the humiliating moments." Cream said while red in the face.

"What? You didn't complain at the time, just happily suckled away." Vanilla shrugged.

"So, let's let Tails open the next present." said Rouge, changing the subject.  
"Yes please." agreed Cream.  
"Who's present is next for me?" asked Tails.

"We'll get to the larger ones later." Vanilla said.

Knuckles plants a large box on the table. "Large is good." He said, but also adds a smaller box on top. "Here ya go."

"Well, I guess this will be a nice gift." Tails said and began to open the gift.

When she opened the large gift, sweat drops fell around the entire group.  
"Is that a....punch bag?" Blaze asked.

"I agree, what is that?" asked Marine.

"It is indeed a punch bag..." Sonic said, still sweat drop. "What the heck, Knucklehead?"  
"You're never too young to train." Knuckles stated proudly.  
"So, you used this as an infant?" Shadow questioned mockingly.  
"Well, no...But..."  
"You're an idiot!" Tails then opened up the smaller box, and pulled out two baby sized punching gloves.

"Well, I guess Knuckles is thinking about Tails **after** she has the baby." Rouge said.

"How so? I don't see Tails putting those ditty little things on..." Tikal said, referring to the 'baby punching gloves'.  
"Alright, alright, it was a joke. This is the real thing." Knuckles gives Tails one last box.

"A punching bag... man, that takes me back." In walks Honey and she notices the various, opened gifts. "Interesting spread you have here..."  
"Yeah, I am blessed." Tails said opening the last box from Knuckles.

Within the last box shows a buggy arch toy. Tails was shocked at the actual gift. "Oh, this is so cute. Lavender will love this thing." she said.

"Wow, that is cute..." Muri said.  
"Come and take a seat, Honey." Vanilla offered.

Honey sat next to Vanilla. "So, It's nice to give mothers-to-be a punching bag." she said.

"From the look of things, it was for Lavender." Sonic chuckled.  
"At least the gloves give the impression, since they are 'infant sized'." Shade said.

"Well, Tails should use it later to work off that baby weight." said Honey.

"Anyway, I just wanna put this out there." Sonic said, handing a present to Shadow.  
"Wait, what?" Shadow looked puzzled.  
"Hey, you're taking on Lavender's father role, so I got you a present too."

"Uh huh...right whatever..." Shadow said, opening the gift, Sonic couldn't help but give a couple of suspicious giggles, trying his hardest to resist, clearly, making Shadow suspicious. After the wrapping was removed, it turned out to be a book, after reading the title, Shadow falls over, the book landing in his former seat. Tails takes the book and reads it.  
"Baby Raising for Noobs." She read.

"This is coming from that guy who has no kids... unless Sonic and Sally had a few secret ones." said Rouge.

"I think it's hilarious." Knuckles laughed.  
"Me? Kids? Please...I'm too cool to settle down." Sonic grinned. "Besides, freedom is my thing, and a sprog is like a chain ball and leash."

"To be honest, I have to say I was taken by surprise to find out Shadow offered to be Lavender's father, it's so out of character for him." Tikal said.

Vanilla took the parenting book. "Now be a good friend and buy a **proper** gift." she scolded Sonic. "This garbage is unacceptable."

"Oh come on, it was a prank for Shadow, I got Tails a real gift." Sonic said, cleaning his ear with his pinkie finger, more in annoyance that Vanilla scolded him than anything else.

"So you agree that this gift was unacceptable? Good, because even you shouldn't be cheap... even on a prank."

"Don't make me bolt, Vanilla." Sonic told her, folding his arms. Shadow finally retakes his seat.

"Please don't, you leaving after not getting pancakes was enough." said Tails.

"Then Vanilla should learn not to scold me like a child." Sonic huffed.  
"Perhaps you should stop acting like one." Shadow replied.  
"Um...moving along...Here you go Tails." Muri put along her present to Tails, shortly afterwards, she stood and walked over to where Kweli was resting, though he was wide awake, she picked him up and returned to her seat.

Tails opens up Muri's gift and take it out. "This looks nice, what is it?" she asked.

Inside the box, she finds 3 baby full suit pyjamas, all pink, one of them had an arrow pointing to the left with the words "I'm with him" under it.  
"I couldn't think of anything to get, so I made these instead." Muri said, afterwards, she sat Kweli on the table, but kept her hands on his sides to support him, he exploring the faces of everyone around. He was in similar clothes to the one Tails had, only it was blue, had an arrow pointing right with "I'm with her" on it.

_Interesting..._ thought Vanilla.  
"Well, I'm glad to see the two have matching clothes." Tails said.  
"Looks like a certain thing that was discussed before you got here." said Rouge.

"Certain thing?" Shadow questioned.

"What was this about?" asked Cream.

"I would like to hear the story please." said Tails.  
"Well, I think I will give you this gift Card." said Honey. "It isn't much, but $100 for baby clothes is an important thing."  
"Wow, thanks."

"Here you go, Tails." Tikal passes over two gifts for Tails, though, one of them was too big for the table.  
"You mean the topic about Lavender and Kweli having sex?" Amy asked.  
"Careful or Muri will have another white out." Tikal told her.  
"Oops, sorry."  
"That's not funny..." Muri blushed a deep red, Kweli back in her lap.

"That's a story you can tell me later." said Cream.  
"I wanna hear about that too." said Marine.  
Tails was busy with the gifts. "I have to admit, times like these make me smile." said Rouge.

Tails shows off a gift, which is a bouncing baby swing. "Well, this will be Lavender's best friend right here." she said.

"Well, that'll look cute, watching her jumping about in that." Blaze said.

Tails shows off a stroller next, and then laughs... "Maybe I can tweak this one up." she said.

"How so?" Shadow asked.

"Kinda like the Booster Seat from Mariokart."

"So, you're gonna make "Baby Kart" with strollers?" Muri sweat dropped.

"Well, not like that. Just a tweak so that the stroller can actually be move around and be controlled. I mean we can have them drive around and-"  
"Absolutely not!" Vanilla cut Tails off, "The last thing you need is real life Mariokart... and there will be no baby driving, not at all."  
"Yes ma'am." Tails' ears drooped.

"Aww, come on, that sounds like fun, Mom..." Cream said, patting Tails on the shoulder.

"I kinda agree with Vanilla on this one." Honey said. "I mean, racing babies can't be safe."

"As if Tails wouldn't think this through and make it perfectly safe..."

"Let's wait until they can walk around first." Vanilla gave in... somewhat.

"Sounds like fun." Cream said. "Anyway, next present."

"Well Blaze, where's your gift?" asked Marine.

"In time." Blaze replied.

"Well, I guess I'll be heading off." said Honey. "Enjoy the last bit of your pregnancy."  
"Thanks." Tails said.  
"You won't get much sleep afterwards..." and out the door Honey went.

"Wow..." Cream said. "Charming. Anyway, I too got things for both our mothers." And Cream plops two presents on the table for them.

"Which one is which?" asked Tails.

"They're both the same thing, so it doesn't matter."

Tails and Muri exchanged shrugs and opened their gifts. After a bit of unwrapping, the mothers showed their gifts. "So what are these?" asked Tails. Both got large books. Inside were pages for pictures, and below them, some text space.  
"Baby diaries, so you can record every little thing you wish about your babies, and when exactly. Like first words, first walk, and so on." Cream explained.

"This really is clever." said Tails. Sonic places a box on the table, neatly wrapped.  
"I went through a lot of trouble for these, Tails. You wouldn't believe how long it took to get them, they needed a bit of a repair job, but I think they came out nicely." He said.

"Nice, I will open it now." Tails said.  
"So all that's left are Blaze and Shadow's gifts." said Marine.  
"Seems like it." said Cream.

Tails opens the box under the wrapping and reveals the present, being small Sonic Sneakers, sized for babies, there were 2 pairs, one for early ages and one for when she's a little old and grows out of the first. The sneakers were designed to be puffy and comfortable, rather than actual sneakers that Sonic currently wears.

"Hand-me-downs of your old kicks?" asked Rouge.

"Hey, I worked hard to get them in that condition." Sonic said.

"I like them." said Tails. "Maybe I should do that with that old pair of shoes I have."

Shadow puts his present on the Table. Tails notices the present and decides to open it. After a few seconds, it's simply a portrait of Tails' workshop. Everyone else was amazed at the picture. "Wow..." Tails said. "Did you do this yourself, Shadow?"  
"Pretty much." Shadow replied.

"Hidden talents are very powerful things." said Rouge.

"It's all repaired, all painted and done exactly as it was before, with a few improvements, and ready and waiting for you to return to it." Shadow told Tails.

"Well, things turned out well after all." said Marine. "Now for Blaze's gift."

Blaze hands a long gift to Tails, which is then opened and revealed as a jewelled rattle. "Wow, this looks pricy." Tails said. "Which gem is this?"

"It's simply a rattle replica of the Jewelled Sceptre." Blaze said.

"That was a pain to endeavour..."

"Shall we move onto the larger gifts?" Vanilla asked.

Vanilla leads Tails over to the largest of the gift.

Tails looks at the gift. "Wow, this will require some help." she said. "Any takers?"

Cream walks over to the other side of the gift. "Let's get this open, shall we?"

"Sure."

Tails and Cream open the gift which happens to be a crib for Lavender. "This looks pretty." said Tails.

"Should be, Mom built it herself." Cream smiled.

"Did this come straight from M.O.M.?" asked Rouge.

"No, Mom built it; she has been secretly working on it for weeks."

"I see. I guess this will be hard to move from here to home." said Tails. "Well, on to the next gift."

"I'm sure Shadow can chaos control it." Cream giggled.  
"Eh..." Shadow responded.

Tails opens a random present which is revealed as a pram. "So, how does this work?" asked Tails. Muri walks over with Kweli, carefully putting him into the pram bed.

"Just put your baby in and push them around, you know?"

"I see."

"Want to try it, Kweli can use a snooze." Muri smiled.

"Well, I might as well get some practice in." Tails said and walked around the room with Kweli.

"At least Tails will be well prepared for her baby." Tikal smiled.  
"I'm still jealous..." Amy mumbled.

"From what I heard, you were offered motherhood." said Cream.

"Would you like a child without a willing father too?" Amy asked her.

"I raised Cream without a father and she turned out fine." Vanilla said while giving Cream an odd look.

"I'd rather not do that." Amy said.

Tails has finished walking around with Kweli. "Okay, time for another gift." she said.

"Last one." Vanilla said, handing over the last box.

Tails opens the last one and it's a car seat. "Not bad, but I hope I can put it in the plane." she said.

"It is altered slightly; it is designed for your planes." Vanilla told her.

"So now what?" asked Marine.

"We're done with the gifts, what does our mother to be want to do?" Cream asked.

"I don't know..." Tails answered.

"I guess we can wrap all of this up." said Marine.

"Did you enjoy your day, Tails?" Shadow asked.

"It could've been better, but this was great." Tails answered.

"So, what do you want to do now? See the workshop, or head over to Vanilla's or something? Whatever you feel like doing."

"From here, I would like to go to my home."

"Everyone okay with that?"

"There is no place like home." Rouge said.  
"Feel free to let us know what you want done with the gifts." said Marine. "How about we take them to Vanilla's for the time being, and we can transfer them over to the workshop later?" Sonic suggested.  
"I'll escort Tails to her home then." Shadow smiled.

"Have fun then." said Cream.

Shadow offers his hand to the pregnant fox. "Shall we go then?"

"Let's." Tails answered.

With that, the two leave with goodbyes from the rest, who then proceed to pack up the things. The two begin their way to the train station. "I hope you had a good day, other than the Lamaze business." Shadow told Tails.

"Yeah, today's shower was a fun shocker." Tails answered. "This is actually one of the happier moments of this."

"We try." Shadow smiled, giving her a one handed hug as they walked.

The two arrive at the station, the get tickets and head to wait for the train. "So what would you like to do at your home?"

"Rest for one thing." Tails answered.

"Heh, as you wish. I'll be your personal butler for the rest of the day, how does that sound?" Shadow asked.

"Nice."

"Good." And the train arrived, the two getting inside.

The train begins to move after a few minutes, and the two were near enough left alone in the cart, with only a few others around. "Tails, I have a question." Shadow started.

"Ask away." Tails said.

"I already told you how I feel, so, I was just wondering how you felt about me?" Shadow questioned her.

"Well, I care about you. I mean, I... I don't know what I would've done in many instances without your help."

"But my feelings aren't shared, I get it. It's alright, I can wait..." Shadow responded, a little hurt, but he seemed his normal self.

"It's not like I don't love you, Shadow... it's just this ordeal has really done a lot to all of us."

"I understand, I just hope as time passes, there's more of a chance we can be together officially, though I know the situations with Cream and Marine also." Shadow told her. "I love you dearly, as we all do. I just hope you'll always remember that."

"So this isn't because of you know who?"

"However do you mean?" Shadow questioned.

"I guess so. Lavender sure gets more love then me..." Tails' ears droop.

Shadow hugs Tails, kissing her on the forehead. "That isn't true, what makes you think that? I love you as I told you I did, I want to make things easier on you, and Lavender, and everyone else loves you as well."

"I'm glad to have it."

"I'm not taking on responsibility for Lavender, solely for Lavender. I hope you know that." Shadow said, rubbing Tails belly. "Lavender is our baby now, she won't grow up with only one parent, I promi-..." At this time, the train lights shut off, the engine slowly sounds down and the emergency brakes are hit, Shadow quickly makes sure there's no violent tug on Tails, as some others were less fortunate and banged a limb on something on the sudden stop.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the tram conductor speaking. We are experiencing some technical difficulties, please remain calm."  
"I really don't like the sound of that." said Tails.

"We will soon have the train back up an-...what the, hey! What do you...?" And it hisses out. Shadow coming to alarm.  
"Something's definitely wrong." He said.  
"Well, well, well, how about this. Happy families. Tails, you should really know by now that Shadow is quite the liar, he doesn't want to make you happy. He's just waiting for his next lay." And in the cart came the big man in red himself. Followed by a Mecha Madness, which was holding a fox covered in chains, and was seemingly being electrified.

"I knew I had a bad feeling about this." said Tails. Shadow stands and makes sure Tails is behind him.  
"You're out of your mind if you think you'll get past me, Doctor." He threatened.  
"Oh, I have a new friend for you to play with; I've heard she makes you look like a baby with some candy." And Eggman laughs as he does.

"I'm ready for that contraption of yours this time, its abilities took me off guard the first time, but I won't be bested again." Shadow told him.  
"Oh, it's not him that'll be playing with you." Eggman said, snapping his fingers, Mecha dropped the fox, and the chains unwrapped.

"Tails, get back...I'll deal with this." Shadow advised Tails.

Tails wasn't sure about how things looked, but she took Shadow's advice anyway. _I wish I had a phone..._ she thought.

"Let's see how fast you lose this time, Shadow. Take it away my little friend." Eggman said.  
"So, Irum deal with black hedgehog and Irum get meal today?" The fox asked.  
"That was the deal, wasn't it?" Eggman replied.  
"I won't be beaten by some little gi-..." In that same instant, Shadow's voice was ceased, and that fox was fist through his chest.

_Ouch, that looked painful..._ thought Tails.

"Ooooh, this is new, I didn't think anything could get through your skin, Shadow. And this girl does it effortlessly. Hahahahaaa." Eggman laughed. "Let's see you live this. Finish him off." With that, the fox launches shadow through the train side, and far into the distance, Tails barely sees him fall into the ocean in the distance. "Now, that was a bit too easy, wasn't it Tails? Sorry about killing your 'poor little hubby', but even he won't be coming back from that. Now, will you make this easy or difficult? Keep in mind difficult means I will hurt you severely." Eggman asked her, walking towards her.

"What do you want from me?" Tails asked while slowly backing away.

"You think I made this project simply because I wanted to see you have a child, Tails? Ha, ha ha ha haaa...Foolish girl. I want my project, and with you finally in the palm of my hands, I'm not letting you go. So, you might as well give in. No one is going to save you now; no one knows you're stranded here." Eggman then put on a mean face. "So behave or I'll force you to."

"Wait, project?" Tails was confused. "You mean to tell me that you're making weaponry that are made out of children?"

"Sir, the project is gone." Mecha said, with his robotic voice.  
"What?!" Eggman turned around, the fox had vanished. "Why didn't you stop her?!"  
"Command was not inserted."  
"Oh, whatever, grab Tails and we can get out of here, before another neucense shows up."

Mecha marches toward Tails. "Don't worry Tails; I'll explain everything before your curtain call."

_What do I do?_ Tails was confused, but continued backing away slowly. Eventually, the fox was cornered with nowhere to go but down. "Okay, this is really bad." she said.

"Resistance is futile." Mecha said, as he approached Tails, he grabbed her by the arms.

"Fine, let's just go." Tails finally gave in. "There isn't much I can do... not in this state anyway."

"I knew you'd see things my way." Eggman grinned. And Tails was escorted off the train, into Eggmans ship, to which is blasted off towards his hidden base.  
"Sir, what do we do about the missing project?" Mecha asked.  
"Who cares, I got what I wanted." Eggman said. Tails was put in a pod, and Eggman in one of his hover seats, he hovered over. "So, where were we?"

"Answering my question for one, you snake." Tails answered.

"Making children weapons. Remember that fox that just killed the only person to really love you for the freak you are?" Eggman taunted.

"Shadow isn't dead, I know it."

"You think even he can survive an entire fist through his chest? I doubt it. But back to the question, your precious 'lavender' will be just like that fox on the train. A killing machine. And with her, I will bring fear and dominance to the planet, and then Eggmanland will finally be created, and the world will kneel before me!" Eggman laughed.

"A killing machine..." Tails was at a loss for words.

"It depends on how obedient the planet will be, but I know one thing for sure. Your precious meddling friends will not be spared. First, that wretched hedgehog dies, then that damned Echidna, then Shade, then Amy, Cream, Vanilla, that cat, that stupid raccoon. All of them will be slaughtered, and as for you? Once you're ready enough that I can extract your child myself, well...let's say I don't intend for you to survive the process." Eggman then began hovering away, laughing at the top of his lungs.

"You're insane... children aren't meant to be weapons."

"Say that to the fox who just killed Shadow the Hedgehog." Eggman said, turning back to her. "Let me bring something to your attention." He motioned over to another pod, inside was a blue liquid of some sort.

"And what exactly is that?" Tails questioned.  
"Your little girls future home, it is a pool filled a special chemical that will vastly increase her growth, changing years into days...she'll be ready to do my bidding only 20 days after birth, and the world as you know it, will be gone forever, but you won't be around for that."

"You really have no shame."

"Of course not, I'm evil." Eggman bursts into laughter, but this is cut short from the door bursting from the wall right past him, barely missing his head. "What?!"

Eggman turns his attention to the hole in the wall, clunking footsteps were all that revealed the presence of another, slowly Shadow walked into the room, but he was clearly different from usual, his colour was completely black, including his spines, which usually had a shade of red, his eyes a dark yellow, a dark aura bursting around him, the hole in his chest slowly seeming to regenerate itself, he let forth an evil laugh.  
"Did you honestly think you could stop me, Doctor?!" He asked, his tone darker than usual.  
"Well, well, Tails faith in you paid off, did-..."  
"Shut it, Doctor. This ends now, this damn game of yours, and your life!" Shadow marched on forth. Eggman snapped his fingers, and Mecha Madness mark 3 burst towards Shadow, however in the next instant, it was crumbling to the ground, shattered beyond repair at the single swing from Shadow's hand. Sparks flew off of Shadows body, causing machines and pods around to explode, the only one not even scratched was the one Tails was contained in.  
"This power is outrageous, you're not this strong, Shadow!" Eggman was in disbelief.

Tails just watched, but felt Lavender's kicking.

Eggman, out of pure fear, pressed a button, doors opened from all over, and Metal Sonics, Mecha Sonics and the like came forth, charging Shadow, who effortlessly pounded and destroyed each of them as they arrived, eventually, the waves of Robots had come to a stop.  
"Is that the best you've got, Doctor?!" Shadow barked at him. "I believe you've ran out of luck. I'll be taking Tails now, and as for you...That's up to her." He said, walking towards Tails pod, but not taking his eyes off of Eggman.

"T-Tails...you'd show mercy, wouldn't you? We can make a deal." Eggman said in panic, giving off the impression of negotiation, but secretly was plotting his escape...or betrayal, whichever was easiest.

"Send him on vacation." Tails said. "He looks like he could use a trip." Shadow grinned.  
"No! You can't!" Eggman roared.  
"She just did." Shadow places a hand on Eggmans pod. "Have a nice trip, Eggman." And with the simplest of motions, the entire room seemed to explode, but once again Tails containment pod was left completely unharmed, despite the fact the rest of the place was now in ruins. Eggman flying off in the distance. Shadow turns to Tails, the dark form beginning to fade. He walked over to her pod and opened it for her. "I told you I'd never let harm come to you two."

Tails didn't respond, her ears just drooped, however, Lavender was no longer kicking.

"Are you alright?" Shadow asked, suddenly becoming concerned. "I'm sorry I took so long...You're safe now."

"I guess everyone was right.... I can't be left on my own." Tails said sadly.

Shadow picks Tails up in the bridal hold. "Don't worry about it, I'll make sure that he can't recover anytime soon from this, okay?" He told her. "You'll have your freedom again, and when Lavender is born, you'll have the ability to look after yourself and her again."

"I just want to be able to be on my own, like I used to..."

"Would you like to have the day to yourself tomorrow?" Shadow asked. "I'm pretty sure the doctor won't be bothering you that soon after how far I just sent him."

"I would like a week to myself. That way, I can get a bit of time to relax without being pampered. Having everyone acting like my bodyguard is nerve-wracking and it isn't healthy all the time."

Shadow smiled. "Then next week is all yours, but can I spend the rest of today with you?"

"Yes, and you can even do that Chaos Control thing to bring my stuff... I mean, if it's possible."

"Sure." Shadow smiled. "Now, let's get you home." And Shadow began walking with Tails still in his arms. "I'll allow you to have your week to yourself, but only if you keep a button on you, for safe keeping. If something happens, push the button, I'll get messaged and will be with you in seconds, no matter what for, is that okay for conditions?"

"I can always call you should I need anything."

"Of course, but put me on speed dial." Tails nods in approval. It took a while, but Shadow finally got them to Tails workshop, having gotten to the door, he set her down.  
"This is my gift, sorry it took a while." He said.

"Thank you for this; it's the most needed gift of all." Tails said.

"A place to call home?"

"Yes."

"Well, let's get you settled." And Shadow hands her the keys to the door.

Tails takes her keys back. "Welcome to the thresh hold moment." Tails inserts the key, turns it and opens the door. Afterwards, Shadow picks up Tails and carries her all the way to the couch.


	36. Chapter 36

Shadow was in Tails Kitchen, as her personal butler as he promised, they had already gotten Shadow one of Tails spare phones to which it was tweaked that a certain number combination with the hash key would instantly page him if anything were to happen to Tails during her time alone. Shadow did however take the time to call Vanilla, and asked her over in regards to the event with Eggman.

"So, what do I owe the honour of this visit?" asked Vanilla.

"An ambush." Shadow told her. "Eggman decided to pull a fast one, and whilst it was dealt with I felt there was something I should bring to your attention before my boss."

"Like?"

"Unless I am mistaken, weren't you interested in rescuing a certain girl from captivity from the so called Rexchus group?"

"Nothing really gets past you I see... Well, what about it?"

"G.U.N's suspicion of the doctor siding with that group were confirmed, as that specific person was used to temporarily remove me from the picture, and whilst it brings me shame, he managed to get Tails for a short time. However, when I totalled his lab, and all his work, and sent him packing, that girl was nowhere to be seen, so either she was returned or escaped. I figured you might want to know that." Shadow explained.

Vanilla folds her arms. "This is troubling..." she sighs. "Do you have any ideas as to where she might have gone?" Shadow shakes his head.  
"She did leave the train the moment Eggman let his guard down, guess she felt his offer wasn't more tempting than freedom." Tails spoke from her seat, eating hamburgers.

"And how are you feeling about this ordeal?"

"I'm thankful for it, though it frightened me...Eggman's plan is sick...but at least I can have a week to myself after that blast, I hope."

"Plans, what plans?"

"Well...he was surgically going to remove Lavender from me, with intent I would not survive, then throw her into some fluid which would rapidly increase her growth, and then mind-fuck her into becoming his obedient servant to dominate the world with fear...and kill all of my friends..." Tails drooped her ears at the thought.

Vanilla didn't say a word, but let everything that Tails said sink into her mind.

"And that girl that put her fist threw Shadow and then toss him aside like a small puppy..."  
"Hey..." Shadows pride was stung.  
"Sorry...well, Eggman referred to her as the example of his expectations. Only Lavender would be in his palm and not as free-willed as her."

Still no response from Vanilla, but she decided to walk over and comfort Tails.

"Vanilla." Shadow started.

"I remember that girl mentioning the deal was that if she took me out of the picture, she could have food, so I assume they've been starving her into obedience. If she is as hungry as that, she couldn't have gotten much further away from the wreckage before succumbing to it. "*

"It's time I took my leave." Vanilla said. "Keep your guard up and handle any tense situations that arise. Obviously, things aren't over just yet."

"I'm sure we'll be fine, just bringing it to your attention." Shadow told her. "Be careful though, Cream and Muri still need you around, so don't become that foxes meal, if you find it."

"Likewise to you." and Vanilla left Shadow and Tails to themselves. Outside, Muri was waiting, but Kweli wasn't with her.  
"I'm sorry I followed you..." She told her.

"It's good of you to have come to visit. Tails could use your company right about now." Vanilla told Muri. "Or are you here for the ladder..."

"Ladder?" Muri looked a little confused. "No, I just...ever since Tails left the club, something's been disturbing me."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, I've just been having a bad feeling..."

"Probably from Kweli."

"Maybe...that was another reason I followed you, he's been crying since you left, and no matter what I do, he won't calm down...I left him with Cream, but I tried feeding him, patting him, singing to him, I even checked his diaper, but I don't know what's wrong...he doesn't have a fever..."

"So when did he eat last?"

"I fed him before the party, but he won't feed." Muri begins to look worried.

"Have there been any other things that have been going on with Kweli as of late?"

"No, until recently he's been very well behaved..."

"Nothing out of the ordinary, like things involving his eyes, hand and feet colouring, are his ears okay?"

"The jewel on his head went a bit misty...his face went red, but I assumed it was because he was working himself up because of all his crying...I really don't know what to do..." Muri was on the brink of tears.

"Sounds like early teething. Well, let's go and see why he's so fussy."

Muri nods and the two head off. "Um, what did Shadow want you for?"

"Information. Apparently, Tails isn't out of the woods yet."

"How so?"

"Same as before, only more up to date."

"Oh. Did something happen?"

"The usual, bad guys and thieves and weaponry being used."

"Oh, I guess I shouldn't ask much." Muri said, it not being long for the two of them reaching the train station. The only train in process was one that went a longer alternate route to Station Square, as the tracks of the attack we only just getting sorted out.

The train arrives at the station, and they head on back to Vanilla's flat, where all of the gifts have been transferred. Not another word was spoken between the two before getting in the door.  
"Hey, mom. Was Tails okay?" Cream asked, a little concerned about the 'emergency call'.

Kweli was in his cot, still screaming his lungs out, but he seemed to be exhausting himself out.

"A bit scared, but otherwise thankful for salvation." Vanilla answered. She then took a look at Kweli... "Awwww, what wrong with my little guy?" she then picks him up. Kweli continues to wail.  
"We tried everything, he won't eat, won't sleep, didn't poop..." Cream said.

That's when Vanilla notices the forehead jewel. "No wonder you said this, it doesn't have the luster it normally has." she said. "His stomach also feels hard... very hard."

"So...what is it?" Muri was really worried now.

"Are you sure he only had your breast milk?" asked Vanilla.

"Yes..." Muri said.

"Then it's one of two things: Either Kweli is constipated, or he's allergic to your breast milk."

"Allergic?"  
"Well, Kirika did say you were allergic to your mother's milk." Cream told her.

"Kweli is probably allergic to it now, and it's common in young children." Vanilla explained. "In addition to that, it's easily curable."

"So...what do I do?" Muri asked.

"Come with me, I have just what this situation needs." Muri follows Vanilla.

After a short trip, the girls end up at a changing station and Kweli still cried. It was at this moment where Vanilla pulled out a syringe with clear coloured liquid in it and removed the cap. "Okay Muri, take this and don't stick yourself." Vanilla explained.

Muri takes the syringe and looks at it. "U-um...wh-what is this for?" She asked, worried.

"Kweli. You're going to inject this into him."

"No...no..." Muri puts the syringe down on a table and backs off. "I won't do that..."

"I will tell you where to inject it, don't worry."

"I don't want to stick needles into my son..." Muri protested.

"I understand that, but you have to remember that Kweli is going to depend on your for the rest of his life. You have to be a mother to your son, Muri." Muri still looks uncomfortable, but she walks back to the syringe, picking it back up.

Vanilla exposes Kweli's belly, then draws a red dot just above his bellybutton with a red marker. "Now, slowly inject the need straight into this marked spot, but only insert the needle a quarter of the way in." Vanilla instructs Muri. "Nothing fancy, just go straight down."

Muri trembles a little, the thought of hurting her son slowly overwhelming her. She walks over and holds the needle in place, but isn't touching him yet; she tries hard to steady her hand, but eventually backs off again. "I can't do it...I don't want to hurt him..." she cried.

Vanilla smiles. "Just keep telling yourself, 'Kweli needs me.' in your mind over and over again, then place the needle."

Muri walks over; she pinches her own cheek, almost as if giving a gentle punishment for disregarding her son's wellbeing. Eventually, she relaxes and places the needle on the spot, gently inserting it to the point Vanilla specified. "This pains me inside..."

"It always does at first, but its okay." Vanilla reassures Muri.

"So...how much goes in?" Muri asked.

"One quarter of the needle."

"I've done that...now what?"

"Now, slowly press the plunger so that all of the liquid is out of the syringe. Kweli will let you know if it's done too quickly."

Muri gently begins to press the 'plunger', being as gentle about it as possible. Kweli cries as he takes his injection, tears leaving his eyes in the process. "That's it, nice and slow..." Vanilla said softly. Muri also cries a little, knowing she's causing pain to Kweli, but she presses on, trying not to become too discouraged.

_I hope everything is okay._ Thought Cream.  
_I know your heart bleeds for doing this, but you'll be stronger after this ordeal, Muri._ Vanilla thought.

Eventually, Muri finishes, and gently removes the needle from Kweli, walking away feeling horrible for what she did.

Vanilla places a cotton swab where Kweli was injected. "So, how tough was that?" she asked Muri. Muri doesn't reply, she just cries to herself in the corner, though not a sob leaving her body.

Eventually, Kweli stops crying and coos softly. His face is still a bit red and tears are coming from his eyes, but he's otherwise quiet. "Sad I see... well, come and hold your son, baby needs his baby time you know." Vanilla said.

Muri wipes her face and walks back over, picking up her son and hugging him. "I'm sorry..." she told him.

Vanilla pats Muri on the back. "You did well for your first time." she said. "It's never easy giving medicine to young children and the first time is always a chore."

"Can I go home now?" Muri asked.

"Go ahead, and remember that you are your baby's main source of reliance." Vanilla said while giving Kweli a hug. She then notices something. "Well, looks like Kweli's forehead jewel is back to normal again. Good for you."

"Thank you, Vanilla..." Muri smiled. She then walked off, back home.

Cream walks up to Vanilla. "So it went okay then?" She asked.

"Yup, and we should know what happened to Kweli in time." Vanilla answered. "So, where to now?"

"You can tell me what happened with Tails."

"She was attacked by Eggman."

"He never quits..." Cream said. "Well, as long as Tails is okay."

"A bit scared, but otherwise fine."

"I question though, how on earth did Egghead get past Shadow?"

"Dumb luck."

"Uh huh." Cream replied. _There's something she's not telling me..._ She thought. "Well, I'm going to go home too, what about you?"

"More errands to run. See to it that Muri and Kweli get some pampers and formula."

"Yeah, okay. I'll go get it now, I could do with the walk, and I might end up running into someone." With that, Cream took her leave, leaving Vanilla to her business.

Vanilla then headed for the station, but rather than get on a train, she instead followed the tracks. It took a while, but she eventually came to the location where Eggman made his attack, she began investigating, but also noticed that G.U.N was around, doing their own investigation.

_Looks like the attack brought a lot of flies..._ she thought.

"Wondered when you'd show up." Rouge walked up.

"I just temporarily left." Vanilla told Rouge.

"Well, either way, I've been waiting." Rouge said. "Seems that the president wants a full report, so that's why I'm here."

"What have you learned so far?"

"Well, due to the damage to the train and the cylinder, there was clearly something or someone launched out from the inside, the tracks were tampered with, the engine on the train is totally fried, there was also a track of footprints leading away from the scene, however, due to the fact someone seems to have covered up their start, no one has followed them yet." Rouge explained. "I went to the one in charge about it, but he told me not to worry about it, due to you. So I assume he was the one who did it."

"He who?"

"General." Rouge said. "Going from witness statements, Eggman was with a mech and someone else, who seemed shackled like a slave. Eggman truly is going down a sickening route."

_Well, I guess he's still working._ Thought Vanilla.

"Then there were the remains of fuel in the air, clearly the fat freak left by aircraft." Rouge told her. "So, what do you make of it?"

"The usual way that Eggman gets around, and he probably got dealt with."

"Well, I need to speak to Shadow later about it, since he was there. Now, shall we investigate those tracks?" Rouge asked her.

"You need me to tell you how to do your job?"

"Whilst I know how to do my job, I was still ordered to follow the General's commands, and he did request that I show you these tracks, and it's your choice whether you take me along or not."

"He wants my help now, how sweet." Vanilla had a saccharin smile on her face. "Well, show me the way."

"Actually, it was more of the fact that, given the circumstances, the obvious culprit to the train's destruction is the girl you seek, therefore I felt it only right that you deal with the matter." The new young General walked up. "You realise that if I were to discover that she was involved in this, then I have the authorisation and command to give 'shoot to kill' orders. I hope you realise that I'm simply trying to help you out."  
"Risky business to go against your commands, you know." Rouge told him.  
"Indeed, so let's keep this as our little secret, shall we?" Vanilla was quiet, but nodded anyway...

"I'll leave you too it, and make sure no one else follows you." And he takes his leave again.  
"He's a little strange, but he's better than that last one." Rouge said. "Anyway, this way." And Rouge leads Vanilla to the covered tracks, uncovering them for her.

_Irony in tote..._ was all that Vanilla could think.

"So, what do you think we'll find at the end of these tracks?" Rouge asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Vanilla answered.

"Exactly what is that kid talking about?"

"It has to do with my daughter."

"Cream or Muri?" Rouge questioned.

"Muri... and of course, a favour that I'm owed"

"Explain."

"When you have children, you will understand."

As the two walked, they heard a rattle, both standing on some chains, which was connected to a broken device, which appeared to be a form of powerful battery.

"Agents first." Vanilla said.

Rouge picks up the chains. "Well, I understand what they mean by 'slave'...I didn't realise bondage was Eggmans' thing, but I'm not surprised."

"No comment."

"Well, let's find this slave, shall we." And Rouge continues walking. "Did you speak to Tails or Shadow about the incident?"

"Tails is a bit scared and Shadow's pissed." Vanilla answered. "Other than that, they're fine."

"Fare enough, but what about informati-..." Rouge then stopped.

"Seems the tracks come to a stop here."

"I guess we go back..." Vanilla trails off.

"No, I'd say that person has to be around here somewhere." Rouge said. "Shall we split up to look?"

"I'll go down." Vanilla answered.

"Take the slopes; I'll have a look over here." And Rouge wonders off.

_Slopes... someone forgot who I am._ Vanilla thought, then began flapping her ears and started to drift down the hill.

After a while, Vanilla lands on a lower level, bushes around everywhere, but there was clearly a trail going down the hill, grass bent and mud picked up, as if someone or something rolled down the hill. At the bottom was another trail of flattened grass which led to a bush. As Vanilla investigated from afar, it did shuffle a little, but Vanilla also noticed there was not strong wind at the current time.

_Hmm, curious._ She thought, and then decided to approach the bush.

As she approached, the bush moved slightly more, but eventually stopped, from the hole in the front, Vanilla could make out a darkened face, and shining golden eyes.

_Ooh, pretty eyes._ Vanilla joked in her mind.

"Irum not going back to cage..." The voice finally came; it was low and weak, but threatening.

"Cage, what cage?" Vanilla asked.

"Cage Irum always put in. You won't take Irum back!" Irum shifted back slightly, Vanilla's ears did pick up a grumble from her stomach though.

"_This poor thing... she can't be that dangerous._ Come on out, I need to talk to you."

Irum bursts from the bush; her hand swung forth, but stops inches from Vanilla's unbothered face...after a slight silence, Irum withdraws her hand. "You...smell like Muri..."

"My name is Vanilla," Vanilla began. "I am currently taking care of her since Kirika was killed." Irum doesn't seem to respond, but after another stomach grumble she does slump on her front.

"I have no cages, but I do have to cook a meal."

"Irum...hungry..." Irum tried to push herself up.

Rouge flew down. "Seems you found her then." She said.

Vanilla ignored Rouge's presence for the moment, focusing on Irum. "I won't make you do anything you don't like." she told Irum. "Feel free to come along if you like."

"Vanilla not want use Irum...?" Irum asked, sitting on her backside, she did eye Rouge suspiciously though.

Vanilla turns to Rouge. "You might want to let me handle this." she told the bat.

"Hm...Got it..." and Rouge flew off. Irum seemed to loosen up her tense shoulders as she did, she looked back at Vanilla.

"Where Muri?"

"She's at my house." Vanilla answered. "But like I said, it's your choice on what happens to you from here."

"Vanilla not use Irum? Irum not want kill people anymore...Irum not like being machine..."

"If you want, I can go away and leave you alone." Vanilla stated. "And if you want, I can give you a normal life, but that choice is yours. Either way, I won't harm you... so you tell me what you like."

"Irum...Irum like food..." and with that the starved fox collapsed again.

"Irum go with Vanilla?"

"Only if you want to."

"If Irum follow Vanilla, Irum can be normal?" Irum shifted herself on the floor slightly. "Sorry Irum try attack Vanilla..."

"It's not your fault; everyone wants to live a normal life."

"Irum too hungry to move..."

"No problem, give me your hand..."

Irum weakly lifts her hand to Vanilla.

Vanilla takes Irum's hand, and soon, has Irum's arm over her shoulder. "I think a nice bed will work wonders for you." she says.

"Bed?" Irum questioned.

"To sleep in, and a nice bath too... maybe you would like your hair braided."

"Irum confused, but okay..." Irum smiled. "Irum get see Muri?"

"Why not, I'm sure Muri will be happy to see you."

"Irum not think so..." Irum replies, but her stomach growls again. "Vanilla not scared of Irum? Irum does bad things...Many people fear Irum."

**neko639** (08:52:52): "Do you believe your bad deeds are done by your own will?"

"No, but Irum still do them..."

"Sometimes, we are forced to do the things we dislike. Besides, why fear you, you are only misunderstood..."

"Misun...that big word..." Irum put on a slightly confused look.

"They don't get you." Vanilla cleared up with a smile.

"Okay...Is Muri safe?" Irum asked, the two had reached the top of the hill at this point, the train rails in sight.

"She's fine." Vanilla told Irum. "A bit concerned over needles, but otherwise fine."

"Needles?"

"She had to deal with a shot."

"Oh..." Irum replied, she then noticed the soldiers up ahead, however, as the young general looked over, he seemed to quickly direct the soldiers somewhere else, away from the view of the two. Rouge motioned for Vanilla to get into the tracks, where a single train cart waited for them.

"Time to go." Vanilla told Irum.

Irum simply nods, as the two made their way into the cart, Rouge joined them and the cart was soon heading off for Station Square, Irum was sat down on one of the chairs.

"Well, that wasn't so hard." Vanilla said.

"That kids really sticking his neck out for you; I guess he feels G.U.N's dept is a large one." Rouge said.

"They do need to pay M.O.M. a couple of deductibles."

"So, what'll you do now?" Rouge asked Vanilla.

"Actually, we're going to go home."

"Need me to make sure people keep off your back?"

"You were coming along anyway."

"I guess I can pay Cream a visit."

"Good. And this moment begins Irum's new life."

"Well, guess you have 3 daughters now, huh?" Rouge teased.

"Rabbit families are like that, especially since one pregnancy can bring as many as twenty children."

"Seriously?" Rouge questioned. "Wow, so both you and Muri were quite fortunate."

"Yes we were... surprise, Irum."

Irum peers at Vanilla, curiously. "Huh?"

"You'll see."

"Um...okay..." Irum said, moments before her stomach growled loudly again, a small embarrassed blush appeared on her cheeks.  
"She sounds starved." Rouge chuckled. "Hope you're planning a big meal, Vanilla."

"Nothing I can't handle." Vanilla said. "I've catered banquets for 200 people, so a dinner for six is nothing."

Not long after this, the train pulls up, and Rouge lifts Irum onto her back, the two leave the train and it leaves. "How's the little tyke doing, anyway?" Rouge asked.

"We'll find out." Vanilla answered.

"I guess." The two head out and toward Vanilla's place.

As the three finally arrive, Vanilla lets them in. They arrive in the living room, it appeared Cream and Muri weren't about, at least not in this part of the house anyway. It wasn't long before Cream made her way out of the kitchen and saw them.  
"Heya, Cream. How are you?" Rouge asked, before lying Irum on the sofa.

"I'm fine; I see we have a new guest." Cream replied. "Shall I start a bath? She looks like she could use one."

"Go ahead." Vanilla answered. "By the way, how is Muri?"

"She's recovering in the back; Kweli is fast asleep, at last." Cream replied. "I told Muri she doesn't need to worry about him now, due to what happened; I'll look after him for a while, till she feels better."

"Noted."

Cream wonders off into the bathroom and sets it up, before running a bath. She leaves the water to it and returns to the others. "So, who's this?"

"Your other sister."

"Another one?" Cream giggled. "Are you planning to adopt the world or something?"

"Nope, this one was my kept promise."

"To Kirika?"

"Yup."

"So, this is Irum." Cream said. "She doesn't appear as bad as Muri's stories."

"That was my initial thought, but after seeing her lay waste to enemies, I needed to know why."

"How do you mean?" Cream asked, taking a seat at the table. Rouge also sits at the table.

"You'll never believe me, so let's just keep that answer for a later date."

"Try me, mom. You'd be amazed at what I'll believe." Cream told her.

"Cream, we'll discuss it later." Vanilla told her daughter.  
"Fine, whatever." And Cream wondered off back into the bathroom.  
"Should I go now?" Rouge asked.

"I guess you aren't hungry..." Vanilla told Rouge.

"I just don't want to be around if there's going to be a family feud."

"I see."

"Family fights aren't my thing, do you blame me?" Rouge questioned.

"I see..." A stomach growl comes from Irum on the sofa.  
"Seems you should probably start cooking, Vanilla." Rouge said. "I still want all the details on this girl."

"Well, I'll learn more as it comes." Vanilla said. "So, what's the verdict on our young buck?"

"What are you asking me for?"

"Cream, do you mind filling me in?"

"I said he's asleep." Cream called from the bathroom.

"Oh well...I guess this is going to be a bland bunch of time before I get the food ready." and Vanilla checked her spice cabinet.

"What do you mean?" Rouge asked, looking about the kitchen.

"Things seem like they will be bland for a while."

"Thanks for explaining in detail." Rouge rolls her eyes. "So, need me to do..."

"Hey, don't eat that!" Cream called from the living room.

Rouge and Vanilla look out the door to Cream, who'd just confiscated the TV remote from Irum.

Vanilla has a sweat drop. "I guess plastic tastes good to you, huh Irum." she said.

"Irum hungry..." Irum lowered her ears.  
"I don't know what's weirder, the fact she has a woman's body, or a Childs mind..." Rouge said.

"You aren't jealous about her figure being better than yours?" Vanilla questions Rouge.

Rouge fell over, but recovered. "What exactly do you mean by that?" She barked at Vanilla.  
"Her curves are better, but Rouge still has the larger boobs." Cream said, looking Irum over.

"Irum like Muri's boobies." Irum smiled, but this caused Cream to sweat drop.

_How do you respond to that?_ Vanilla wondered.

"Moving along." Cream said. "Oh, right...the bath." And she wonders off to the bathroom again.  
"That was a good conversation killer." Rouge said.

"Rouge, make Irum a sandwich please." said Vanilla.

"Fine, Irum, what would you like to eat in your sandwich?" Rouge asked.  
"Sandwich?" Irum tilts her head in confusion.  
"Right, why did I even bother asking..."  
"Irum usually get fed meat."  
"Ham then." Rouge then goes off to fix up a quick ham sandwich. Cream returns from the bathroom.  
"I'll leave the hot in the bath for now; you can bathe Irum whenever you're ready mom, since I doubt she'll be able to do it herself." Cream said.  
"Vanilla, you realise that this girl you've picked up might as well be a toddler, right?" Rouge questioned.  
"And the more I look at her, the less I believe she's a monstrous killer..." Cream added.

"Well, don't let covers tell the stories of books." Vanilla said. "As for you Irum, you will get a balanced meal."

Muri then comes out from her room. "What's with the noi-..." She looks at Irum and simply freezes.

"Surprise, Muri." said Vanilla.

"Aahhh!" Muri backs off, but she trips, banging her head on the cupboard behind her. "Oooowww..." She rubs her head. Irum springs out from her chair, over the entire room and lands at Muri, before forcefully hugging her, rubbing her face in Muri's chest, Muri simply looked terrified, and her eyes read she hoped Irum didn't hurt her.  
"So, the history is true. Irum has an odd fascination with Muri, and Muri responds by being absolutely terrified." Cream shrugged.

"There's nothing to be afraid of now." said Vanilla.

"There's plenty to be afraid of...what is she doing here?" Muri asked Vanilla, her voice trembling a little.

"I know this is new, but don't be alarmed. Irum isn't going to hurt anyone here, right?"

"I still don't understand how you got her..." Muri said.  
"So, who's going to fill me in on how she's dangerous?" Cream asked.

"It has to deal with control issues." Vanilla answered. "And besides, Irum is Muri's sister after all."

"Not biologically." Rouge said.

"How's that sandwich coming along?"

"Done." Rouge left the kitchen and walked over to Irum and Muri. "Let's free you then." She joked. "Here you go, Irum." Rouge showed Irum the food, to which Irum responded by letting go of Muri without a second hesitation, she took the sandwich and looked at it.  
"Look odd..." She said, but in one bite ate one half of it, after a small moment she gave a satisfied exhale. "Yum." Muri took this opportunity to stand and walk over to Vanilla, she tried to hide the fact, but it was clear she was using Vanilla as a shield of some sort from Irum.

"You don't have to be afraid of her you know..." Vanilla told Muri.

"She broke my arms in three different ways, sorry that I'm finding it hard to believe that..." Muri replied, she fiddled her hands together, her discomfort and fear obvious.

"That was part of Irum's old life, but her new life will end up much happier since I have my say on things."

"Is um...you know who, dead?" Muri asked.

"Don't you worry about that. For now, we're going to help give Irum a second chance at life... a happier second chance at life."

"Nothing good can come of this if he is capable of retaliation...you having me is bad enough, but he's not going to let you get away with both of us..." Muri told her.

"Does this mean you think Irum doesn't deserve a second chance?"

"I...I..." Muri looks sad. "I just don't want to go back there and he's going to come when he finds out you have Irum. You can't stop him, Kirika couldn't stop him, no one will stop him!" And in tears, Muri budges past Vanilla and runs out of the house. Irum simply watches as she leaves, finishing her sandwich.

"Follow her, Cream. Keep her out of any unwanted trouble." Vanilla said. Cream nods and chases after Muri.  
"Is Irum a problem?" Irum questioned.

"Muri just needs time to adjust to you being here." Vanilla answered. "Things will be fine after a while."

"She is right, you know." Rouge said. "That nut jobs gonna come for you, knowing you have two of his weapons."

"Talk about jinxing..." Vanilla trailed off.

"This isn't about jinxing, Vanilla, you know it too."

"I've had worse troubles you know, and so have you."

"You of all people should know not to let past achievements blind your judgement, not to mention underestimate people." Rouge told her. "You were once captured by Eggman, who used you as bait, this guy actually killed one of his own trying to get what he wants."

"The difference between me and him is that I'm not selfish and greedy."

"Just be careful, these girls need you, so don't let this guy get you, alright?" Rouge told her.  
"Knock knock." Amy walked in. "Sorry, door was open, is Cream about?"

"She went on an errand." Vanilla answered. "Moving on, how have things gone on for you?"

"Well, I'm getting along well at Blue Wave. The girls there are really nice." Amy said, walking in further, she notices Irum. "Who's this?"

"I'll let her introduce herself."

"Irum name is Irum." Irum said.  
"Irum...? Where have I heard that before..?" Amy went into thought. "I guess it wasn't important, I'm Amy." She replied, putting a hand out for Irum, who just looked at it curiously, leading to a long pause. "Nevermind." Amy withdraws her hand.

"So, planning on sticking around for a while?" asked Vanilla.

"Well, I was going to arrange a trip with Cream, perhaps go clubbing tonight." Amy said.  
"Boy hunting?" Rouge teased.

"No, though I guess Cream can look."  
"You're just bothered because Sonic offered Cream a date and not you."  
"Why do I think I have friends, it always leads to them picking on me."  
"It's a joke, get over yourself."  
"Whatever, so, Vanilla, you interested in a girls night out?"

"Perhaps, but I have to deal with food at the moment." Vanilla answered.

"It's in a few hours, not now." Amy said.

"Some bellies need a bite now."

"Uh huh."

Vanilla is not impressed.

"You make it seem like I'm saying you can't have food."

"Hey Irum, did you know Amy always has a tasty treat?"

"Treat?" Irum perks her ears.  
"Wait, what?" Amy looked confused, moments later she was pounced on by Irum, who proceeded to sniff her over, searching for this treat. "Hey! What's going on?" Rouge was in hysterics.

"So how about giving Irum that treat?" asked Vanilla.

"I don't have a treat!" Amy barked under Irum.

"You heard her, Irum, no treats on Amy."

"Awww..." And Irum gets off of Amy, who stands up and dusts herself off.  
"What the hell, Vanilla?" She was not happy.

"As I said, hungry bellies." Vanilla noted.

"Forget it, I'm leaving." And an annoyed Amy takes her leave.

"Well, back to the meal." Vanilla told Rouge and Irum.

Meanwhile, exhaustion had finally caught up to Muri and she sat in a nearby park, Cream caught up to her soon afterwards.

"You know, you really shouldn't be running off like this." Cream said to Muri.

"He's going to find us anyway...at least if he catches me here he doesn't kill Vanilla..." Muri replied, head low.

"You know, there are two things wrong with running away from your problems. Do you think you can guess what either, if not both, of them are?"

"No..." Muri wiped her face.

"It's simple: One, problems will only chase those who won't deal with them. And as a result, they will continue to come back; and second, there will come a time where running away from your problems will make you run away and you'll forget something."

"I haven't forgotten anything..."

"Funny, because I don't see Kweli here with us..."

"You insult me, Cream..."

"No, this is the perfect example. Let's say something happens back where you leave due to one of your problems. In your panic and fear, you managed to leave Kweli... this now means that not only have you left a dangerous environment, you will eventually have to go back to rescue Kweli. Do you understand what I'm getting at?"

Muri stands up, she doesn't look happy with Cream. "I might have issues, Cream, but I am not stupid to leave my son in a situation I knew was unhealthy for him, and you insult me for assuming I would." She yelled at her. "I have a lot of problems, problems you'd never understand, but you don't have children, you don't understand me at all."

"Well stop feeling insulted, this is meant to get you to do something you will have to do eventually and that's facing your problems. Besides, Mom would've given you the same lecture as you're getting from me.

"So Irum's an 'innocent chaos', big deal. She isn't the first playful instrument of destruction we've dealt with. More importantly, this is your sister, and you shouldn't run from your family... even if the past has caused future trauma."

"She is not my sister, not by blood, not in any way. She is a bringer of death and destruction, most of which is done by her own hands, and if she doesn't do it, Nazaruda is going to. He'll kill Vanilla, he'll kill you, and he'll enjoy it. And what hurts the most is you'll get to watch him kill your mother, and then I'll be forced to watch him kill you...And if Kweli is deemed 'failure' in his eyes...then he'll kill him in front of me too...it hurts me to think this, but I can't help it...I thought it was bad enough that I'm here, but having Irum here too just makes things worse. He's not going to sit idly by and let us get on with our lives..." Muri then fell to her knees, burying her face into her palms. "He'll never stop haunting me...he'll never go away."

"You truly are sad." Cream said while turning away from Muri. "But I guess this is what happens when you're afraid to be a better person. Instead of thinking, 'Maybe I can be the better person and face my problems', you'd rather cry and continue to run from them. Facing your problems doesn't mean you have to face them alone, but I guess being a glass half empty girl is how you got through life. To think that Kirika trusted my mother to give you a new chance at life, but instead of wanting it and being able to let the past be forgotten, you'd rather fester in your own pity. I guess you never wanted to change after all..." and Cream walks away. "I'm going home, but feel free to cry in your pity all you want to." Muri doesn't reply, she just watches Cream leave.

Back with Vanilla, Irum had been properly fed, two extra dinners were served, but left in a warm place for Cream and Muri, Rouge also had a bite to eat. Irum sat in the corner of the room, casually staring at the two as they chat.  
"Thanks for the meal, Vanilla. You're cooking still beats the president's special meeting dinners." Rouge said, finishing her plate and sipping down the last of her wine.

"Of course." Vanilla answered. "Well, I better go and nab the little one."

"So, what're you gonna do about this supposed bio-weapon?" Rouge questioned.

"Give her a life, of course."

"It's strange to see a fully grown woman with the mind of a child, and no I'm not jealous of her figure, before you bring that gag up again." Rouge said. "Anyway, I've been conjuring up a new drink, was wondering if perhaps you and some of the girls could come and taste it later on."

"Perhaps so. But make sure to do a virgin version too."

"Hey, I'm smarter than that, you know." Rouge replied, somewhat insulted.

"I didn't mean to make you sound ignorant."

"I'm still aware of the young and pregnant drinkers." Rouge shrugged.

Vanilla returns to the room holding a sleeping Kweli. "Moving on, does this drink have a name?"

"I can't come up with one, we'll see what everyone thinks, possibly come up with a name based on how many times certain words are used to describe it, maybe." Rouge replied.

"Not bad."

Rouge sat up right. "For example, when making the drink, I accidentally nudged a jug which had some sour cherry flavour in, got caught in the mix. By that point, I figured I blew it, but when I tried it, it wasn't half bad, kinda got a sour after taste, but it's not one of the bad kinds. So, you got the initial flavour, with bit of a sting at the end." She explained. "Though, because it was accidental, I did need to try figuring out the right amount of mix, but I got it."

"I see-" Vanilla was soon cut off by Kweli.

"Time to work, I see." Rouge said.

"No. I've just noticed something interesting about Kweli."

"Oh?" Rouge stands and walks over. "What is it? He teething or something?"

"No, the forehead jewel of his changes colours every now and again. I first noticed this when he was crying and needed a shot. It's odd in a way."

"You mean...Like a mood ring?" Rouge asked. "So, what colour is it usually?"

"I can't really say, but it looks more yellow right now."

"Any idea what it means?"

"No clue..."

It was at this point Cream returned.  
"Hey, how'd it go?" Rouge asked her.

"Not how I wanted things to turn out." Cream answered. "I'm giving Muri time to think, so she'll be out for a while."  
"Interesting." Vanilla said... "Now Kweli's jewel is turning all fiery and even getting a-" Vanilla was cut off by Kweli's instant crying.

This made Rouge jump a little. "Wow, Cream, check this out. Kweli has a mood head jewel."

"Fiery, huh? Do you think that..." Cream suddenly fell silent.

"What?"

"I think I should take Irum to play away. Come on and tag along with me, Irum."

Irum looks at Cream, stands and walks over. "Irum do something wrong?" She asked.

"Nah, I wanna take you somewhere fun." Cream soon grabs Irum's arm and runs out of the house with her.

After the two had vanished, Rouge looked to Vanilla. "What was that about?"

"Leave, leave now." Vanilla told Rouge. "Make sure Cream and Irum have a fun time."

Rouge was taken aback. "What exactly is go-...never mind, arguing with you is pointless. I'll return later then." Rouge follows the girls.

Meanwhile, Cream had Irum and was heading to the stairs. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I really needed to get you out of there." she said.

"Irum do something bad?" Irum was confused.

"No, but I think I figured out Kweli's talents."

"What might that be?" Rouge Hovered down, before landing and following.

"Rouge, where's my mom?"

"She told me to follow you, and you know what arguing with Vanilla solves." Rouge told her. "So, what's this talent?"

"I think that colouring of..."  
Before Cream could finish, a loud explosion was heard, and the blast shook the stairwell. "Holy crap!" Cream yelled.

Before anything else, Rouge grabbed both Cream and Irum and ran for a nearby opening, jumping out with the two, flapping her wings to support the weight, just before flames engulfed the area they previously were. Once she gained control of herself, Cream used her ears to decrease the decent rate, and soon they were on the floor outside, but quickly moved away from the exploding building. "Son of a...what the hell just happened?" Rouge barked. Irum looked up at the wreckage, saying nothing.

Cream said nothing, but saw that the flames came from the area of the building where they lived. Sirens were soon heard in addition to various screams in panic. _Mom..._ Cream trailed off in her mind.

"Target has been spotted, preparing to neutralise." Rouge, Cream and Irum quickly turn to see a series of armed soldiers, but not G.U.N's uniform, before they knew it, guns were pointed their way.

"Fight ti-..." Rouge was cut off as a red blur burst forth, and before anyone could say or do anything, one of the soldiers head burst open, before Irum retracted her hand and quickly moved to murder the next soldier, the soldiers in response open fired on Irum, who by looking at her eyes had just gone berserk, bullets missed her, and those that hit only seemed to jolt her slightly. Second soldier fell with his arms removed, third down with those arms planted through his chest, Irum then vanished, zooming toward a forth.  
"Holy shit!" Rouge couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"I guess we don't have to worry about her being in need of protecting..." Cream said.

"Oh fuck!" Another soldier said, before having his head smashed off, bouncing down the road, more pedestrians screaming, and soon the sirens got louder as services began to arrive, Irum was hit with a few more 'electric bullets', which after several seemed to be taking a small effect. However, the last soldier was neutralised with his own gun through his stomach. Irum stood, turned to Rouge and Cream, but was clearly still in her feral state.

"I think it's time to go and play now." said Cream.

Irum began walking towards the two, then charged, the two blocked, only for Irum to slam her claw forth, past between both their heads, blood pouring to their shoulders. As they looked, a rogue soldier was clearly about to use them as meat shields. Irum stepped back a few steps, her pupils converting from the long black slits to normal circles. "They stank..." She said.

"I need a drink..." Cream said.

Bang! Irum was struck in the head, falling to the side, completely unconscious, her body flowing with an electric current.

"That couldn't have gone more smoothly." Nazaruda finally made his appearance, alongside another soldier, this one female and holding what appeared to be an anti-tank rifle.  
"You...What the hell?"  
"Freeze, drop your weapons and put your hands in their air!" G.U.N had made their appearance.  
"Looks like your foolish mother learned what the consequences are for fucking with my business." Nazaruda said, ignoring G.U.N completely.

"You have a lot of nerve, creep." Cream said.

"Sticks and stones and all that shit." Nazaruda said. "Well, you'd best back away from the weapon. Whilst this rifle is only capable of knocking her unconscious for a little while, I can assure you neither of you, nor these pitiful humans will be getting back up after a shot from this."  
"If you do not comply, we will open fire." A G.U.N officer shouted, via microphone.  
"Kill em." Nazaruda said, with that, more guns went off and G.U.N was completely dropped. "I have this entire area under my thumb."

"You're insane. But I guess that doesn't matter to you at all, so I'll say this one time only. Get lost, you sick bastard." Cream warned.

"Why thank you. Since you're refusal to comply, when you see your mother in hell, tell her I said fuck you." And he snapped his fingers, the sniper lifted her rifle, aiming for Cream's head, finger on the trigger.

Before the trigger could be pulled, the sniper was soon knocked high into the sky by a pillar of water and the sniper rifle simply washed away. Moments later, Chaos stood toe to toe with Nazaruda.

"Again with the drip..." Nazaruda wasn't happy.  
"Looks like I picked a great time to visit, huh Cream." Tikal glided down.  
"Nice timing...I expect Shadow to poof in and Chaos Control to safety or something." Rouge said.

"Well, does this mean you're going to leave quietly?" Cream asked Nazaruda.

"I've got hitmen on every building surrounding this area, and you think I'll leave because of some cowardice water?" Nazaruda laughed.  
"Damn, I've always wanted a collection of these..." Shadow showed up, carrying what appeared to be 16 sniper rifles. "There's an FD-200, JNG-90, KNT-308, AMR-2, DSR-1. Hope your boys weren't using them." Nazaruda narrowed his eyes.  
"More interference..."

"Cowardice water... I love how people call him that." Cream said. "Oh well, I guess we'll be leaving then."

"This changes nothing. After all, we already have the weapon you carelessly left alone. She tried to warn you about this, and what did you do? You insult her, break her down into nothing and leave her to rot. How very clever of you." Nazaurda then laughs, before a blinding flash of light hits everyone, when it clears up, Nazaruda and Irum are gone.

"Well, that's one way to end things." Cream said.

"Well, let's get out of here, before G.U.N reinforcements show up." Tikal said. "I really don't want to have to explain this..."

"Hey, we're missing someone." Cream finally noted.

"Looks like he got the prize and ran." Shadow said.  
"Damnit...well, let's get to my club. We can discuss what we will do then."  
"Allow me. Chaos Control!" And the lot were warped off.


	37. Chapter 37

The 4 appeared in the club, and Rouge instantly went behind the bar, and began mixing up some bits and pieces.  
"So, what exactly happened back there?" Shadow asked.

"Mom..." Cream trailed off.

"Oh come on, you think that'll stop Vanilla?" Shadow asked. "Anyone who has the balls to throw the first attack against me isn't gonna..."  
"That's enough, Shadow." Tikal told him. Rouge came over with some glasses.  
"Vanilla would probably complain, but I think you need a nice hard drink." She said to Cream.

"Kweli... his jewel is like a threat detector... that's a pretty useful thing to have." Cream said.

"Here, drink, Cream." Rouge said, passing the glass to her.

"What is this?"

"It's your favourite, only strong." Rouge replied.

Cream takes the glass and slams the drink. "One more."

Rouge wonders off to get another drink, whilst Tikal and Shadow took one each themselves.  
"So, Shadow, why is it you're not with Tails?" Tikal asked.

"She has a way to contact me if the need arises." Shadow answered.

"Wanted some 'me' time then?" Tikal asked.  
"'Us' time in her case." Rouge said, bringing over Cream's second drink.

"So can anyone tell me how all of this was possible?" asked Cream.

"How do you mean?" Tikal asked.

"I don't know how."

"Vanilla pissed off a psychopath, what's not to understand?" Shadow asked.

"Where's my drink?" asked Cream.

"Here." Rouge hands over the glass. "You'll only get one more after this; we don't want you going out of control."

"CRAZY MEATBAG FINDS M.O.M. HEAD... PROBABILITY, 75%." notes Omega.

"I think it's about time we taught him he's not the only one to be fucked with." Shadow said.

"Tell me about it." said Cream before slamming the next drink.

"Shall we begin gathering then?" Rouge asked.

"I need another drink." Cream said.

"Last one." Rouge said, before fetching one final drink for Cream.

"Well, it's nice to know you got out of there okay." In walks Vanilla holding Kweli. "Oh, I guess Irum got lost along the way, that's not a good sign."

"And there she is." Shadow said. "So, how're you holding up?"

"Well, I'm a little pissed off... Rouge."

"What?" She says, passing Cream her last drink. "You can't be pissed at me for this." She said. "After all, Cream just saw you go ablaze." She then winked. "Besides, the power of suggestion is a wonderful thing."

"You jinxed me, woman. I demand restitution for this jinxing, because it will not stand."

"Geez, fine, free drinks for the next month." Rouge shrugged.

"Oh no, you can't butter me up with drinks. I'm gonna get you good."  
"Mom, why didn't you tell me that Irum was programmed to kill?"

"Does this mean poor Muri's gonna get spankings too because she was the first one to 'jinx' you as you say." Rouge asked.

"She will get hers too."

Shadow looked at Vanilla. "I'm also curious to that thing, Vanilla. She's caused me enough damage as it is."

"Irum is related to Muri, and now that she's gone, I'll have to go through the process of obtaining her again."

"How the hell can they be related? The species are totally different." Shadow barked.  
"What she probably means is...Are you saying Muri is supposed to be like Irum?" Tikal asked, cautiously.

"Who knows? Well, we had better go and find her." Vanilla said.

"From what he said, that creep has her too." Rouge said.

"Well, I still want to search for her anyway."

"How about starting where Cream left her?" Rouge suggested.

"AGREED." Omega responds. "LITTLE PEACH COLORED GRASSLAND CREATURE WILL LEAD THE SEARCH."

"Assuming she's recovered by now." Shadow said, looking at Cream. "Better yet?"

"I'll manage." Cream answered.

"I'm gonna leave this search to you guys, I'm going to make sure that guy doesn't try using Tails as a form of leverage over us." Shadow told them.

"Good luck." said Vanilla. And off Shadow warped. After this, the girls collected themselves and once Cream had recovered a little more, they were off to search for Muri.

Starting from where Cream had left Muri, the girls begin the search, though little showed anything of where she might be now, until one of them notices Kai exiting a clinic. "Well, look at who just showed up." said Vanilla.

"Wanna go say hi?" Cream asks. "If anyone knows where Muri is, he will."  
"Why not?"

And the girls walk over to catch Kai, who doesn't seem happy to see them, but tries to be pleasant anyway. "Group outing?" He asks as they approach.  
"In a sense." Vanilla answered. "Up for a chat?"  
"Not really, but I doubt you'll give me the choice." Kai replied. "What do you want?"  
"We're looking for Muri, have you seen her?" asked Rouge.  
"No, I haven't." Kai said, suspiciously instantaneously.  
"Really? You haven't seen her around?" asked Vanilla.  
"Why should you care anyway?"  
"I take it that you've forgotten who I am." Vanilla said, slightly agitated.  
"On the contrary, if you cared, you wouldn't have let her scream her lungs out in a back alley, so heavily distraught she's unable to talk." Kai retorted. "Anything else?"  
"Screaming in a back alley?" Vanilla looked toward Cream.

"Okay, I may have given her a tough love reality check over things," Cream began, "but given the circu-"  
"I will deal with you later." Vanilla then addressed Kai. "As you can tell, I was unaware of this..."  
Kai simply growls somewhat. "Fine...I'll take you to her, but I will force you out if she insists on not seeing any of you..." he replies.  
"I like how subordinate and submissive you've become. Perhaps Muri's rubbed off on you." Vanilla said, half teasing and half assertive.  
"Would you rather I not take you? I can be a complete asshole if you want me to be." Kai is not happy.  
"Mom, don't ruin it for us." said Cream.  
"You ruined things **for yourself**, young doe." Vanilla scorned her daughter. "And besides, you've probably noticed that Muri is without..."  
"Without her son, to which she believes due to her lacking ability as a mother let die when your house went ablaze?" Kai asked. "Whatever, maybe this would at least bring her back...This way then." And Kai begins walking off in the direction of his apartment.

"So, why exactly did you leave her on her own if she's in such a bad condition?" Tikal asked.  
"My twin is with her at the moment, I'm not so cruel as to leave her on her own when she is in need of care."  
"I hope your twin isn't as hard-nosed as you are." Cream said.  
"At least I don't leave my sister alone in a park, after having just ripped her to shreds verbally, leaving her to fall to pieces." Kai countered.  
"I was trying to get her to build some-"

"Cream, you have to remember that Muri is a frail girl." Vanilla cuts her daughter off. "Not everyone had a loving livelihood as you did. And should things arise, you will apologize."

"Yes, ma'am." Cream's ears drooped.

"I hope you guys have some grub, because I'm getting hungry." said Rouge.  
"Guess I'm cooking as well then..." Kai replied. As they come to a worn down building. Kai pushes the first door open and the flight of stairs was the next chore.  
"Quaint." said Vanilla.  
"Not everyone is the lead member of an international company and can afford nice housing..." Kai replied. "Besides, places like these are less conspicuous. I prefer it when people leave me in peace..."  
"I'll buy you a dictionary, that way; you can know what 'quaint' means." Cream said.  
"As if anyone would call this place 'quaint' and not mean it sarcastically." Kai replied. "And you better stop lipping me; I'm losing my patience as it is."  
"It was meant to be polite. Now I may have appeared to be a bitch to you, we are firm believers of, 'Home is what you make it.' buster."  
Kai reaches his door, pulls out his key and opens the door. "Hurry up and do your business, then get your lippy daughter out of my hair, before I really lose my temper..." Kai told Vanilla, taking off his shoes just after the door, walking into his place.

The inside of his place is surprisingly better decorated and fixed up than the rest of the building, and looks like it doesn't belong on the rest of the building. "And remove your shoes."  
Everyone removes their footwear. "You forgot to mention which room is Muri in, kind host?" said Tikal.  
"Keep following." And Kai enters his living room, inside Kylia is watching the television, and Muri is sitting at the far corner of the room, to the left of the door, on the fold out bed, curled up and seemingly out of reality.  
Vanilla approached Muri while holding Kweli. "Hey there, Momma, someone wants to say hello." Vanilla said.  
Muri gently looks over to Vanilla and Kweli, then snaps into reality, but huddles further into the corner, though she doesn't say anything, it's clear she feels ashamed to see them.  
"And she's been like that since I found her." Kai said. "I went to get some medicine to help her throat, but..."  
"You know, Kweli would love to be held by Momma again..." Vanilla continued reaching towards Muri.  
Kylia looks around the room. "It's not like you to have guests, Kai..." She said. Muri buries her face into her legs and bursts into tears, though it's silent, Vanilla can see it through her movements and the tears streaming.  
"You know, sometimes when things really aren't going my way, I start to cry." Vanilla began. "Crying isn't a bad thing, and people cry for many reasons: joy; sorrow; victory; reunion; we even cry to clean our eyes.  
"Crying isn't a bad thing, everyone needs to cry every now and again, it means that we are... realistic, that we have souls and can even be comforted in this process."  
Muri looks up at Vanilla, and tries to talk, but no sound follows. Meanwhile, Kai leaves them to it, calling as he leaves. "What do you want to eat then? Sandwiches or perhaps I should prepare a curry." He asks, going into the kitchen.  
"Curry works for me." said Rouge.

Kai begins cooking, but Muri can't respond to Vanilla due to her inability to talk.  
"So, girls, whilst things get sorted, take a seat? You might as well let your feet up." Kylia offers the others.  
"Thanks. I'll try not to find my aunt on the couch." said Cream.  
Kylia simply smiles. Muri looks at Cream a little, but her ears lower and she just looks ashamed.

"Got any games?" Tikal asked.  
"There's a pool table in the other room." Kylia replies.  
"I think I'll shoot some pool." said Rouge.  
"I can go for that whilst Vanilla deals with Muri." Tikal replies as the two go to hit some pool. Meanwhile, Kylia looks at Cream.  
"You look a little unhappy, dear. Something wrong?" She asked.  
"Let's just say I screwed up big time in my attempts to be a better sister figure." Cream answered.  
Muri looks at Kweli, who is happily reaching out for her, but her wavering mind of whether or not to take him haunts her.  
"See, your son misses you." Vanilla said to Muri. "He won't hurt you, give him a hug."  
Muri lips her words, slightly, Vanilla reads them as 'but I'm not fit to look after him.'  
"Sure you are. You're just a new mother, and this is normal for new mothers."

After a hesitation, Muri holds her arms out for her son.  
"You shouldn't let it bother you too much; perhaps learning from your mistake will make you a better sister in the future." Kylia told Cream.  
"Hopefully she'll forgive me once all this is sorted out." Vanilla hands Kweli to Muri, who giggles in his mother's arms.  
Kai walks in and goes over to the bag he brought back, taking out the throat medicine, taking it to Vanilla. "She should probably take some of this, it'll hurt to swallow I'm sure, but it should help. Might take a while for her voice to return."  
"When you're up to things, try your medicine out." said Vanilla.  
Muri mouths 'sorry'.  
"You'll be okay." said Vanilla.  
"Shall we leave her to her son for a moment?" Kai asked Vanilla.  
"That would be best." Vanilla answered.  
"Kitchen?" Kai asked, before going into the kitchen to resume the curry cooking.  
"Need help?"  
"No, but we can talk." Kai replied.  
"I'm an open book, you know."  
"I don't read books." Kai replied. "Besides, we need to talk about Muri."  
"You should do more reading. But anyway, what's up?"  
"What do you intend to do?"  
"About?"  
"Muri..."  
"Keep going."  
"...What?" Kai questioned. "I mean are you going to take her with you or leave her here with me?"  
"Well, that all really depends on how she feels. Muri may not be ready to go."  
"What do you make of her current condition?"  
"She's going through things like a new mother would. I remember having similar issues with Cream."  
"Speaking of Cream, didn't Muri look up to her at one point?" Kai asked. "Now, she can barely look at her."  
"Siblings are going to act like one is subordinate than the other... I'm sure you and your sister had things like this."  
"We have our differences, but..." Kai started. "Never mind, I'm sure her intentions were good, despite the state she left Muri in."  
"And have you done stuff like that to her?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"How often have you been bossy with your sister?"  
"Not to such extremes. We have our fights, but when my sister is unhappy, I try to cheer her up, not beat her further into the floor."  
"Well, both of them **did** think I died."  
"Wasn't that 'before' the attempted assassination?" Kai asked. "Once I found Muri, my first thought was to bring her to you, as you are her current guardian. Your house exploded as we began to arrive. Knowing it probably wasn't an accident, I took her here immediately afterwards, so don't try to give me that excuse..."  
"Well, I don't know much on the incident, so you'll have to excuse me."  
"Point of the matter is you weren't 'dead' before Cream verbally beat Muri. Not that I'm trying to get into an argument. You're Muri's legal guardian and..."  
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you didn't enjoy Muri's company." Tikal walked in.  
"Not that, I love having her around, it's just..."  
"I think we can agree that we should wait and see how Muri feels before any measures should be taken." Vanilla offers.  
"Fair enough. So...Any tips on how the bat takes her curry? Wouldn't want her to complain about it being too spicy or not spicy enough..." Kai asks.  
"Feel free to ask her, I take mine with a side of soba noodles."  
"What's her name?" Kai asked. "Yelling 'Hey, bat' seems rude, even for me."  
"You mean Supertits?"  
"Her tits aren't that great." Kai replies. "Bigger isn't always better, besides, I've noticed your rack is bigger than hers is."  
"Take a grab, I don't mind."  
"I don't think that's appropriate." Kai replies.  
"I'm sure Rouge won't mind if you ask her."  
"I don't really have interest in the bat." Kai tells her.

"He doesn't want to be unfaithful to his girlfriend Muri." Tikal giggles. Vanilla shook her head.  
Kai looked slightly agitated, but said nothing. "I take it you're looking for a new father for your daughters then, Ms Rabbit."  
"You want to marry me; I'm touched." said a shocked Vanilla.  
"I don't think I'm your type..." Kai sweat dropped.  
"I guess you prefer your women younger than."  
"Not to say you're not stunning, Ms Rabbit, but I prefer girls who won't try to kick my ass in an argument." Kai replied. "Hiei does have a documented file on you, and I have read it."  
"And what does Hiei have on file regarding Nazaruda?"  
"Ask him for it, but you won't like it."  
"Thanks for telling me you don't know. For now, let's wait for the curry." and Vanilla shrugs the argument off.

"He was a talented scientist, wanting to study medical procedures for the good of all, and met his future fiancée. During an attack form an outside party, she lost her life, and he lost his mind. He murdered the owner of the Rexchus Science Company, and took over; designing bio weapons to find the ultimate weapon to perform some incarnation mumbo jumbo to bring back his beloved and take revenge on the world..." Kai tells Vanilla. "Are you happy?"  
"I'm content." Vanilla answered.  
"Perhaps you should go on a date; you're like a married couple already." Tikal teased and went back to continue the game. "You finally stopped potting, have you?"  
"This is really something else." Vanilla said, and then giggled.  
Muri heard most of this and was trying to shout, but nothing, eventually she gave up and silently sighed.  
"I think Muri wants something." Cream said.  
Muri was going to reply to Cream, but decided against it, before Kweli began grabbing at her shirt on her chest and she took notice to this.  
"Anyone have a blanket?" asked Cream.  
Kai wonders in. "Why, what do you need it for?"  
"Not for me, for Muri."  
"...What for?" Kai asked. Muri looked at Cream also.  
"Let's just say we aren't the only ones who are up for some grub."  
"Well, you're all girls, save for the sprog, I'll just keep out of the way. The only blankets we got are drying." Kai replied.  
"Um... could you get a blanket for Muri?" Cream asked Kylia.  
"I'll go see if they've dried, if not, I'll check the towels..." And Kylia gets up and heads to look. Kai shrugs and goes back into the kitchen. Tikal walks out.  
"Well, I'm not playing Rouge again...that was a ridiculous ass kicking...Least I wasn't seven balled..."  
"Playing 8-ball or 9-ball?" asked Vanilla.  
"8-ball, but Rouge can pot from the most ridiculous angles..."  
"Math is a beautiful thing."  
"To be seven balled is to have all seven of your colour still on the table by the time your opponent pots the black..." Tikal explained.  
"Be lucky you weren't playing 9-Ball. Rouge has a habit of a constant breakace." said Cream.

Kylia returns with a blanket and a towel, heading to Muri with an impatient Kweli. "The blanket is a little damp, but it's barely noticeable, the towel is smaller but dry."  
"Well, I guess Muri won't have to be embarrassed about routine mother stuff." said Cream.

Shadow knocks on Tails door. _Hope she won't be mad..._  
"What's up?" Tails asked behind the door.  
"Just checking in. Few issues back in the town, wanted to make sure you were safe." Shadow replies.  
"Yeah, just keeping my feet elevated."  
"Door open or shall I chaos control?" Shadow asked. "Or shall I leave you be?"  
"Come on in." Tails answered.

Shadow lets himself in, closing the door behind him. "So, how's the peace, till I arrived?" He asked.  
"Peace is nice, and both of us are enjoying it." Tails answered.  
"Can I get you anything?"  
"A glass of orange juice would be nice."  
"Anything else?"  
"No."  
"Okay then." And Shadow goes to get her drink. "Iced?"  
"Sure."

After getting her drink, he returns to deliver it. "Here you go, enjoy, Juice ala' Shadow." He grins slyly.  
"Perhaps you'll open up a juice parlour..." Tails joked.  
"Not really sure I'd survive business life." Shadow joked back.  
"I see." and Tails sips her juice. "I have to wonder, what exactly is next for me."  
"What do you mean?" Shadow asks.  
"Before all of this, I had a purpose, and now, I just don't know anymore."  
"Things will change, yes, but your purpose is always there." Shadow replied. "It's not like you're alone to raise your baby. It's probably not much consolation, but I'll be there for you both. It's the least I can do for failing to protect you."  
"Thanks..."  
"You'll be fine."  
"I want to do what I used to do..."  
"What's stopping you?" Shadow asked. "Lavender will take up time, yes, but I can look after her as well. A baby is a lot of work, but that shouldn't stop you completely." Shadow told her.

"Let's say that building a proton accelerator isn't the idea activity for a pregger."  
"Surely you can wait until at least after birth..." Shadow replied, before he pulls up a chair and sits beside Tails.  
"I guess..." Tails said. "It's not like I have much of a choice anyway."  
"Take your mind off of it." Shadow told her.  
"I'm gonna have a nap. Could you rub my feet, please?"  
"I can do that." Shadow said, smiling.  
"That means a lot."

Shadow then shifts his seat, carefully taking Tails left foot first, and began massaging as instructed. "Do you have any other plans for the future, besides Lavender and inventing things?"  
"I wish I knew." Tails answered.  
"You know, you could always team up with that young rabbit mother, learn from each other as you learn to be mothers."  
"Muri and I do have common ground, good idea."  
Shadow switches foot. "Just never forget, you're never alone."Tails doesn't respond, but only nods.

Meanwhile, back with Vanilla and the group, it'd been a while, and Muri was still mute, but she'd seemed to warm up to everyone again, well, except for Cream, to whom she still showed signs of shame towards.

"Not to seem rude, but will you be taking or leaving Muri here?" Kylia asked.

"That's for her to decide." Vanilla answered.

Unable to speak, Muri simple takes a hold of one of Vanilla's sleeves.

Vanilla turns to Muri. "Is something the... Oh, hold on a moment." she then turns to Kai. "Do you have anything to write with and write on?"

"I'm sure i can dig something up around here." Kai replies.

"My bedroom drawers...centre right, and absolutely not the top middle one." Kylia told him.

"Yeah, yeah, everyone knows that's where you keep all your dirty sex toys." Kai replied.

"Kai!" Kylia fumed. Kai simply went to her bedroom, and picked up the notepad from her draw, and a pen from the side, taking it to Muri.

Vanilla simply laughed at the quarrel. Muri wrote down she was going to go with Vanilla on the notepad and showed her.

"I see." Vanilla said.

"So what's the verdict, people?" asked Rouge.

"She'll be coming with us, Rouge." Vanilla answered.

"I see." Rouge walks over to Muri. "Well before we go, I think I'll give you some billiard basics. We'll play rotation, and I won't burn you either."

"Hey, Mrs Rabbit. Hope you don't mind my asking, but where will you and your daughter stay, now that you're home is nothing but black dust?" Kai asked.

Muri looks up at Rouge, totally confused.

"Does that mean we can stay here for a while?" Vanilla questioned.

"There's not much room, we had to set up that bed there just for Muri encase she stayed a while." Kai told her. "I guess i can lie the pool table on the wall and throw out some futons, but are you sure you'd want to stay here? This is a nasty area of the city."

"It was just a momet of humor. Besides, I'm sure you wouldn't want to cross corners with Cream every morning." Vanilla said with a giggle. "Don't worry about me, I always have somewhere to go."

"I'm aware of your daughters seeming dislike for me, and honestly, I won't lose sleep over it." Kai told her. "I just wanted to make sure you at least had a roof over your heads, I'm not that heartless."

"Thanks for that." Cream said.

"Uh huh." Kai replied. "Well, I gotta go out now, Hiei has some things for me to do."

"I guess we'll wait until the girls are done, then move from here." said Vanilla.

Kai nods and takes his leave. Kylia looks at Cream. "Please don't feel bad of him, he's actually really nice when you get to know him."

"I may be stubborn at times, but I am grateful." Cream says.

"Of course." Kylia replied. After about an hour, the girls were ready to leave. Muri did seem to do her best to keep as far from Cream as she could.

The girls were walking down the street, chatting about things, except for Muri, who was concentrating on Kweli, playing with him as they walked. The peace was nice until...

"You're such an ignaramous!" Shade barked.

"You're the one who let him get away!" Knuckles barked back.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was too busy taking care of the other thugs to stop the one who nabbed your precious emerald."

"I'm better off protecting the island on my own!"

"Then FINE! Protect it on your own, you asshole!" And Shade storms off from him. He grunts angrily and runs off in another direction.

"Wow..." Tikal said. "That was odd...things were fine for them yesterday..."

"Really now?" asked Rouge.

"Yeah. Though, i guess the sex died down recently..." Tikal replied. "Can we go check on Shade?"

"Why not? There is strength in numbers." Vanilla responds.

"Thanks." And the group head off to find Shade. Finding her in the nearby alley, but she wasn't doing anything but leaning against walls, she wasn't sobbing, but she still had some tears on her face.

"Shade, you okay?" Tikal asked, walking over.

"Well, I won't pesture you on it, but wanna hang with us? After that, I don't really want to leave you on your own?" Tikal told her. Muri tugged on Vanilla's shirt before showing her a note.

'I need the bathroom.'

"Pit Stop, ladies." Vanilla said.

Tikal turns to Vanilla. "Sure. Coming, Shade?" She asked.

"It'll be nice to wash my face." Shade answered.

"Okay." Tikal takes Shade by the hand, and leads her from the alleyway, before they all go to find the nearest bathroom.

Having arrived, Vanilla looks after Kweli as Muri goes to the bathroom, but Tikal follows Shade into the bathroom as she washes her face.

"So, are you sure you're okay?" She asked.

"There's a reason why our tribes had their differences." Shade said. "I guess I was foolish about trying to resolve things."

"Well, that isn't exactly true." Tikal replies. "I mean, look back on how many times the Dark Legion was swayed due to Knuckles, eventually they had to give in and joined the rest of us in Albion. So, you're going to give up with him?" She asked.

"If only it were that easy."

Tikal tilts her head. "What do you mean? I guess you really liked him, hm?"

"I can relate to how he feels."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a loner thing." Shade finally splashes water on her face. "No matter, I just need some cool off time."

"I just can't believe it went so horribly wrong, I mean, you two seemed really close, even if you denied a lot of it to us." Tikal said. "Well, you still have me at least, right?" She smiles.

"Yeah..."

"Come on, we're going to go to Rouges to take your mind off of this, okay?" Tikal smiles at her. Muri flushes and leaves the cubicle, looking at them.

"You okay?" asked Shade. Muri nodded, then washed her hands.

"Good, lets go." Tikal smiled, before the girls leave the bathroom. Muri takes back Kweli and the other girls have their business, before they head off again.

The group arrive at Rouges, and before long, Rouge is behind the bar ready to serve drinks. Muri sits in the corner with Kweli, who fell asleep.

"Well, it's nice to know that things are starting to come back to normal." Rouge said while wiping a glass with a white washcloth.

"Can we get a couple of hard drinks?" Tikal asked. "I'd think Shade'd need one about now."

"Any specific drinks you had in mind?"

"Not really." Tikal replied. "What would you reccommend?"

"That depends, hard drinks vary." Rouge explains to Tikal. "Some hard drinks are smooth while others put hair on your chest, and the rest will bowl you under a table if you aren't ready for them."

"I guess something to take away the pain of a breaking heart?" Tikal said, trying to be sensitive on the issue.

"One heart easer, coming up." and Rouge starts mixing a drink.

"I think I'll take this round, if you girls would like something too." Tikal tells the others.

No thanks." Vanilla answered.

"I'm not thirsty." Cream answered, she was on the other side of the club.

Tikal looks between Cream and Muri and sighs. "I don't like seeing this tension between them." She says.

Vanilla continues to be lost in thought. "Feel free to play peacekeeper." Rouge suggests.

"I wouldn't know where to begin." Tikal replies.

"Begin somewhere."

"I guess I...I just don't know..." Tikal sighs.

"Now where did I put that mixture..." Rouge trails off.

"So, what will you do now, Shade?" Tikal asked.

"I dunno, probably just wait it over, then talk to him." Shade answers.

"Okay, i'll come too, I don't want you to fight."

"Thanks."

Meanwhile, Sonic knocks on Tails door. Eventually, he checks the door, finding it open and lets himself in. "Anyone home?" He asked, walking and closing the door. Sonic wonders around, ending up going into the hanger. The lab was still in the condition it was in before the workshop was destroyed, and he was astonished to find what he did. "So, that's what Tails was working on before the incident." He said, still looking about. Eventually he returned out into the halls. "Hellooo..."

"Are you comfy?" a voice asks. Sonic blinks, and stays silent, looking around for the voice owner. Shadow suddenly appears next to Sonic. "I take it you don't want anything to drink?" he questions.

"Not really, just checking in." Sonic said. "Where's Tails?"

"She's sleeping soundly in her room." Shadow answers.

"You seem to be making yourself comfortable with her, Shadow." Sonic grins.

"Tails isn't hard to co-exist with... though I can't say the same about you."

Sonic puts his knuckles on his hips, narrowing his eyes. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It doesn't matter. Why else are you here?"

Sonic responds in a goofy, mocking voice. "I'm sorry Mr bodyguard sir for wanting to check on my best bud." He then speaks normally. "Seriously, chill out. What exactly do you think I'm gonna do?"

"Nothing stupid, I hope."

"Seriously, Shadow, chill out." Sonic shrugged. "I'll sit around and wait for her to wake up I guess. Wanna play a game?"

"Fine, did you bring a console?"

Sonic dashes off, 20 seconds later he's back. "Now I did." He said, holding a 360 box.

"So what's to play?" asked Shadow.

"My version of Mario Kart." Sonic grins. He then sets up the console in a flash, and begins the game.

"Sonic Kart?" asked am unimpressed Shadow.

"Sonic and All Stars Racing, duh!" Sonic says. "Can't say I'm happy that most of the other class isn't our friends. Unfortunately, you made the cut too, Shad." He grinned.

"Fine, I'll play as Billy Hatcher." Shadow said, "I do want to read the instructions first though..."

Sonic tosses over the game book. "Don't you wanna play as you're 'girlfriend'?" Sonic jokes.

"Fine. I'll play Tails and you play Amy." Shadow teases.

"That's a low blow, man..." Sonic was not impressed.

"You went for the balls first."

"So, someone calling Tails your girlfriend is insulting to you?" Sonic replied, narrow eyed. "Well, excuse me, and here I thought you wanted some fox-tail. Or was it that you'd get it and run?"

"At least I'm honest with Amy, and don't use her ass."

"Not honest enough... until recently." Shadow shrugged. "Then again, you were probably afraid of the hammer."

"Better than being afraid of 'Oh, woah is me, what if she rejects me, boo hoo.' Yeah, I heard about that one." Sonic countered.

"Will you two shut the fuck up..." Tails wasn't happy, behind them.

"See what you did?" Shadow scorned Sonic.

"Hey, don't blame me man..." Sonic defended himself, this caused Tails to tug on both their ears.

"You're both like children! Sonic, you haven't grown up a bit since you were four years old, and you're just as bad Shadow for countering it." She complained.

"Ack, easy on the ear, Tails!" Sonic complained back.

"I'm done, Momma's gonna hear from me." Shadow said. Tails lets them both go, still unimpressed. She sighs and heads into the kitchen for a drink.

"Hey, Tails...nice blimp you got downstairs, it is a blimp, right?" Sonic asks.

"Eh." Tails answered.

"You know, if me and Shadow finished it up, we could probably take it to see those who don't know about your baby." Sonic told her. "You can instruct us of course."

"Granted you two can actually get along for this sort of thing and you can understand tech speak?" asked Tails.

"Shadow can deal the tech, just tell me where to put stuff and I'll do it." Sonic replied. "If not, I can always get some others to sort it. What about Cream, she loves helping you with this sort of thing."

"Meaning that you aren't gonna back up your own idea?"

"Tails, that hurts." Sonic was offended. "You know I always keep my promises."

"If you can't work the tech alongside Shadow, then what's the point of helping?"

Sonic felt defeated. "Fine...I try to do you a favour and get kicked in the ass for it..." And he goes to take his leave.

"It's so easy to find bad help... Shadow, I'm going back to sleep. Try not to wake me up unless it's for something urgent."

Sonic was really offended this time. "You know what, fine. Have if your way, Tails. Have your precious Shadow. I know what I'm not wanted. Catch you later, stranger!" And he bolts.

Shadow shook his head. _Someone can't deal with pregnancy mood swings._ thought Shadow.

"I'll call him later and apologize, but now really isn't the time." Tails said.

Meanwhile, back with the girls, Muri and Cream were still on opposite ends of the room, Tikal and Shade were taking their drinks, until Shade had to rush into the bathroom, which surprised most, because they thought she'd handle her drinks better. And Vanilla was nattering to Rouge.

"O-kay... perhaps I used too much sugar." said Rouge.

"Seems fine to me." Tikal said, drinking happily away.

"In a sense, it almost reminded me of how Tails was all those weeks ago." Vanilla said.

Tikal looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Not really..." Tikal blinked. "The only implication I'd get from it would be..." and after a long pause, she puts her cup down. "You don't really think..."

"I don't really think what?"

"Are you suggesting Shade is pregnant?"

"Either that or Rouge put a hammer in her drink."

"I didn't 'hammer' anything." Rouge said.

Shade comes back out of the bathroom.

"Shade, do you and Knuckles bareback sex?" Tikal asked.

"No, I made sure he always had a condom on." Shade replied.

"Who made those rubbers?" asked Rouge.

"I dunno, I think it was a NMPC brand or something." Shade replied. "Why, what's the big sudden invasion into my private life?"

"Shade, I've always wondered what your blood type is." said Vanilla.

"AB." Shade responded.

"Really, well then I guess you don't want a test..."

"What for?"

"Calorie count, blood cell count, I mean, when was the last time you've seen a doctor?"

"Not since I came back I'll tell you that." Shade replied. Muri walks over to Vanilla and hands her a written note.

"It's good to see you're up and about." Vanilla said. well let's see what's up." It is here that Vanilla views the note. "Hmm, interesting. Congratulations Shade, you are a proud anarchy Sack receiver."

Shade lifted a brow. "Excuse me?"

"Muri's heard of your NMPCs, or No Mess Pregnancy Condoms."

"Bum bum buuuuuuuuuum!" Rouge makes sound effects speech.

"So, what Shade just experience, really was pregnancy sickness?" Tikal asked.

"Anarchy Sack... I didn't know men did this ordeal too." Vanilla said.

"You're just shitting me." Shade wasn't happy.

"Translation: I am confused." Tikal added.

"Hey!" Shade protested.

"I read this book." Rouge said. "Pretty much, this women found out her man was cheating on her with another woman. Now she found out he was going for a booty call later with this alleged woman, so before he went, she took a pin and poked holes in all of his condoms. He ended up knocking the girl up and the other women found out about the first."

"And that's just one example of Anarchy Sack." Vanilla said.

Shade was pissed. "I did not do that! I was the one who insisted we wore protection! He was all carefree about bareback, but I said no."

Tikal sighed. "And can I assume 'he' brought the condoms?"

"Yes."

"So, does this not explain why he chose 'this' brand?" Tikal questioned, Shade going quiet.

"I guess he like you after all..." Rouge said.

"W-Wait...what?" Shade was begining to lose it.

"He perposefully chose condoms that would ensure you got pregnant...obviously not expecting this fallout." Tikal told her. Muri gave Vanilla another note. 'Perhaps he wanted to ensure his heir as guardian was 'powerful'. Ms Shade is a very powerful girl from what Cream told me once.'

"Very true, Muri. Shade is a strong girl, perfect gene pool for a young echidna." Vanilla said. "But I guess he's called it off with Julie-Su."

Tikal looked at Vanilla. "They broke up years ago, when Knuckles went all 'guardian crazy'. He cut her off so much she gave up and left him."

"Well Shade, with the role that I weild, you do have options." Vanilla said.

"What options?" Shade was going pale, she was slowly taking in the fact she could be pregnant.

"Adoption for one." Rouge answered. "Interestingly enough, how would a Knuckles/Nocturnus tribe echidna turn out."

"That's not an option." Shade protested.

"Well, think about it."

"There's nothing to think about. I'm not pregnant, and even if I was, I'd never give my child away," Shade complained. Meanwhile, the door went and footsteps were heard, mainly cause they were heavy, either by a large person or someone in a bad mood.

_I wonder who this could be... _thought Rouge.

Sonic storms in, looking pretty pissed. "Rouge, gimmie the strongest drink you got, I wanna be unconcious in 20 minutes." He said, almost demanding.

"Sounds like you knocked someone up." Vanilla said. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"Probably not Amy." said Rouge.

"Shut up!" Sonic barked. "I am NOT in the mood! I need to get laid though."

"Touchy..." Shade narrowed her eyes.

"What happened?" asked Rouge. "And I ask so I can get an idea on how strong to make this drink of yours."

"Had a fight with Tails. Forget her, she can have that two-bit faker all to herself, and forget she ever knew me!" Sonic said in rage.

"Into the veins, Rouge." Tikal told Rouge.

"You sure that wasn't just her mood swing, or you didn't aggravate her?" asked Vanilla.

"I suggested an idea, going out of my way to do something for her, and she turns around and basically calls me useless!" Sonic was still pissed. "Just gimmie the drink."

"Mood swing." Rouge and Vanilla answered.

"Anyway, back to my problem? Let him wither in his own idiocy for all I care..." Shade told them.

"Whatever, I'll go talk to Cream..." And Sonic wonders over to Cream's area. "S'up, Cream?" He asks.

"I messed up big time." Cream said. "In my attempts to toughen up Muri, I ended up giving her a nervous breakdown. It caused her to run off and we found her. Sure, recent events didn't help either, but now she just tries her best to stay away from me. Some sister I turned out to be, huh?"

"You're talking to a 'big brother' who basically just told his 'lil' sis' to go fuck herself. You're doing better than I am." He pat her on the head. "Let's go talk to her, shall we? Not gonna resolve nothing over here."

"I want to wait until she no longer hates me. I remember having a similar fight with Tails... once she comes back around, things will work out for you two just like they did for us."

"If I recall, the reason you and Tails patched things up was because one of you swallowed pride and confronted the other. And...I don't think Muri has that confidence." Sonic told her. "You're gonna have to be the one with the patch this time, Cream. I gotta grovel to Tails if I ever want to talk to her again."

"Fine, let's go give this a shot."

"Wait here." And Sonic goes over to Muri. "Hey, Muri. You okay?" She gives a gentle nod. "Mind coming and speeking to me and Cream?" Her responses is only to lower her head a little. "She is sorry you know, come on. You can't avoid her forever, you live together..." Sonic explained, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Come on..." Slowly he managed to get Muri over to Cream, but she still seemed distant and ashamed to be near her.

"So, girls. What started the little argument in the first place?"

"Someone trying to kill mom." Cream answered.

"Huh...seems I missed out on something again."

"I tried getting Muri to toughen up, but it only made her cry." Cream continued. "Like I said, it was a bad situation." Muri just sat there, listening.

"Nothing to say Muri?" Sonic asked, not knowing of her newly developed condition. She wrote on some paper. Sonic read it. "She says you hurt her, and made her feel useless as a mother..." Sonic told Cream.

"That wasn't what I meant." Cream explained. "Sooner or later, you have to face your problems, not run away from them. I only wanted to toughen you up in case something really drastic happens... but instead, I only made things worse."

Muri writes down. 'You made me feel horrible as a person and a mother, you ripped at me and broke me down piece by piece and left me there like a shattered glass.' she put.

"Mom was right, you are a frail girl. However, it still didn't mean that I should've did what I had done. You'll probably hate me forever and I don't blame you. But when you calm down from hating me, I would like to try and repair the shattered glass." and Cream went back to the other side of the club.

Muri silently sighed. Sonic pat her on the head. "Well, I did what I could. It's up to you and her now, okay?" Muri just nods. Sonic smiles and heads over to Cream.

Shade was trying to relax at the bar "So, I take it you aren't into that test of Vanilla's?" asked Rouge.

"What test?" Shade replied. "Why should I get my blood tested?"

Tikal put her hand in her bag. "Now, don't ask why I have this." She pulls a pregnancy test. "But go and use it." She hands it to Shade, who takes it.

"Well, I guess my choice of places are rather limited." Vanilla said. "The majority of places would prompt another attack, so this will truly be a challenge."

"You mean a new place to stay?" Tikal asked.

"I think I have an idea where I will go."

"Care to tell?"

"Nope, not this one."

"Geez, thanks for making me feel like I'd go tell your would be murderer..." Tikal looked a bit hurt.

"You know I can always stay with you."

"They'd have a hard time finding you on Angel Island." Tikal had an idea. "What about New Mobotropolis? You'd be plenty safe there."

"Nice considerable choices."

"You also have Knothole."

"I've thought of that too."

"Don't forget to consult the girls too though."

"Of course."

Shade goes to the bathroom.

Vanilla decides to follow Shade into the bathroom, if only to be sure that she's okay. _I wonder why Knuckles would do such a thing, this isn't like him._ She thought.

Shade goes into a cubicle, unaware that she was followed as she sits down on the seat to read the instructions on the box.

"Shade, is everything all right?" Vanilla asked.

"Huh? Oh, yes. I'm just gonna use this contraption Tikal handed me." She replied.

"I see."

"Did you need something?" Shade asked.

"Spoon with me for a bit while you handle your business..."

"You are joking..." Shade responded.

"Not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"Talk of course. What happened with you and Knuckles?"

"I don't wanna discuss it..." Shade replied. "We had a fight and I told him to stuff it, nuff said."

"Is he bad in bed?" Vanilla jokes.

"That's nothing to do with you." Shade countered. "And if he was, would I be in this situation?" A flush is heard as she comes out with her 'pee stick'. "I still want to know why Tikal had this..."

"No idea."

"Well anyway, since it's a choice between this and making jokes. Some army like guys attacked the shrine, I ended up beating a lot of them down to defend the master emerald, but someone made off with it when me and Knuckles were busy. He blamed me for letting him get away; you saw it, didn't you? His egomaniac yelling at me."

"Knuckles is known for having a stubborn mindset." Vanilla explained. "For a long time, he figured that he was the last one left... then not only does he find other echidnas, he then comes across another tribe from back in the... what, 4000 years that you're from?

"The point is simple: Knuckles will always be stubborn and he's used to doing things on his own. That's just Knuckles... now Tikal knowing things is something I may never understand."

"What do you mean by that?"

"By what?"

"What you said about Tikal."

"She runs a talk show, who knows..."

"Ah, that. Who is this 'Julie-Su' that was mentioned?"

"Part of the 'other echidna' crew, and the one he considered a partner... but seeing as things have just happened, odds are he isn't interested in her."

"So I really have lost him then...I give up on men..." Shade sighed, before looking at her pregnancy test, seeing it and jumping, dropping it to the floor. "N-no, it's faulty!" She cursed.

"You haven't lost him if he's willing to knock you up."

"I am not pregnant! I didn't want this!" Shade turns away from her. "Why would he do this? I told him I wasn't ready for this and that's why we were using protection!"

"Is something the matter?"

Shade doesn't say anything or do anything, thoughts running through her mind, as the pregnancy test lie on the floor inches away from Vanilla.

"So what does it say?"

"It's faulty..." Shade lied to herself.

"Sounds like you're egg hatching." Vanilla said.

"I hope I read it wrong, you look..." Shade told her.

"Want me to take a look?" Vanilla picks up the test and looks at it... seconds later; she lowers the test to her side. "No, it isn't faulty." she explains to Shade. "I can give you a more accurate test if you prefer..."

"I'm gonna kill him!" Shade fumed. However, this was enough to get the others attention as Tikal walked in.  
"Is something wrong?" She asked.

"Shade wants a second opinion." Vanilla explained.

"It was positive?"

"Ask Shade."

"That tells me enough." Tikal said.  
"I want to leave now." Shade says.

"Fine, let's leave." Vanilla concedes. "As for what happened here, nothing is said unless Shade speaks on it, okay you two?"

"Sure." Tikal says, but Shade doesn't reply, she only leaves the bathroom, followed by the other two.

"Here's my card if you want a more sure instance, Shade." Vanilla says, while holding her card out towards Shade.

Shade takes it and continues out the door.  
Tikal smiles. "Deep down, I'm sure she's happy about it."

_Let's hope so._ Vanilla thought.

It was getting late and people were beginning to come into the club for the night, which made Muri clearly uncomfortable.

To try the whole amends thing again, Cream approached Muri. "I guess you'll need some piece and quite, so come with me." she said while extending her hand.

Muri nodded, though only because she was afraid of all the soon to be drunken men coming in, took Cream's hand and followed her.

Cream is ready to lead Muri into Rouge's back room, but before this happens, the two rabbits are confronted by Vanilla, Tikal and Shade. "It's nice to see you two are on more pleasant terms." Vanilla said.  
"We're working on that." Cream says with a sweat drop.  
"Tikal, I think we need a trip back to your old place." Vanilla addresses Tikal.

"You want to go to the old mystic ruins?" Tikal asked.

"Yes."

"As you wish, Rei might enjoy the company." Tikal smiled. "Join hands then." She offers both her hands.  
"Leaving, huh? Can I come?" Sonic asked.  
"Sure, if these girls are happy with it." Tikal smiled.

"Not this time, but I will have Tails call you." Vanilla answered. "Let Rouge know that we left and try not to be so mad."

"Forget it then." Sonic huffed and walked off.

"I have plans for the girls, please understand." Sonic simply waves and walks on to the bar.

"Seems Shade left completely." Tikal said, looking around.

"I guess, but let's head off now." Vanilla shrugs. With all connected hands, Tikal turns them to light and they vanish.

Appearing in the old Mystic Ruins. "Let me know if there is anything you want me to generate here." She says.

"There is something I want to ask," Vanilla began, "where would the sparring grounds be?"

"I don't have one, but I can create one, what for?" Tikal asked.

"Training purposes."

From the air, Rei comes down. "I heard the word Training." She said.  
"Well, vision what you want Vanilla and..." Tikal looks around. "It'll form in that area." She points to a small open area, with some forest.

"You forgot that Tikal is the peacekeeping echidna, eh Mom?" asked Cream.  
"Cute." Vanilla answered. "The ironic thing is that you and Muri will be sparring with it first."  
"Say what?" Cream exclaims. Muri shakes her head violently and wonders off a short distance.

"I think we better call it a day." Vanilla said with a sigh.

"You intend to train Muri? You realise she is potentially the most dangerous weapon you currently have, right?" Rei said to her.

"That doesn't matter." Vanilla answered. "Training is a good way to handle many situations, especially burning off pregnancy weight."

Rei looks at Muri. "She seems to have recovered well from it as it is." She said. "It would be interesting to spar with you though, Ms Rabbit." Rei said to Vanilla.

"All will come in time, Rei. But first will be Muri and Cream."

"I do believe Cream will beat Muri into nothing, she looks like she hasn't trained a day in her life."

"Not really, this is only sparring and not a death match."

"I guess I don't know the difference." Rei shrugged. "Still, Muri won't hold her own. If this were a betting game, mine would be on Cream."

Vanilla approached Muri. "There will come a day where you will be unable to run," she explains, "and when that day arrives, you need to be ready to defend yourself. Attackers will have no pity on a trapped girl who will only break down and cry. Do you understand?" Muri could only reply in expression, and she was worried.

"Knowing how to control your own situation is vital to every woman, especially young women."

Muri writes on her paper. "What do I do?"

"You stand and defend yourself. There is something about you that you're afraid of and with proper training, you won't fear that part of you anymore."

"If they're going to fight, can we make it fun and dress them like gladiators?" Tikal giggled.

"Combat attire would be in order..." Vanilla said with an impressed look on her face. "For now, think about the sparring grounds and rest. And tomorrow, it will be put to use." and Vanilla took her leave. Muri looks even more worried, eyeing Cream a few times.

Rei follows Vanilla. "What are you planning?" She asks.

"You will see." Vanilla answered. "By the way, take caution, Muri can read your mind."

"And why should I worry about that?"

"Think about it."

"She's only likely to learn what I know about herself, which she probably already knows, if she can mind read, I have little say in what she learns."

"Good, now have a good rest and think of the grounds also."

"Enjoy yourself." Rei walks off. Vanilla continues to her quarters and finally get off of her dogs.


	38. Chapter 38

First, I'd like to point out that despite the vast hiatus of the story, we ARE NOT FINISHED. :3 The end of this story will accrue shortly after the birth of Lavender, so until that moment, this story will go on. Maybe 40 chapters, 50, 100... who knows (though Tails will have to drop eventually.) Thanks for all the support and hater "Will you continue this story damnit" messages I have been receiving, both Tsuikai and Kattx are back on the job, though no promises for frequent updates, we are still people after all. It's not much, but hopefully this next chapter will inform people we're far from dead.

Tails was waking the next morning, stretching she got out of bed and rubbed her belly. She left her room, going into the kitchen to fetch herself a wakeup coffee and stood in the kitchen, waiting for the kettle to boil. As she waits, she puts on the radio to see if anything interesting is going on.

"Hello all of you listeners out there in Radio Land..." the voice from the radio said. "Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you were the opposite gender? Well we here at Dr. Splicer's Snip and Tuck, we can make your manhood into a womanhood in a matter of hours."

She switches channels. "No thanks..."

"Blood. Everyone needs blood to live, but not everyone will give this precious gift of life. But what if the next blood drive..." Ominous music starts playing, "The blood of the people was taken." Various screams are heard in the next six seconds.

Tails looked puzzled. "Um...what?" she asked herself, listening on.

"This Halloween, the stingy, ungrateful people that won't share the gift of life will have it stripped from them. Blood Drive, rated R. Starts Halloween."

"Boring..." Tails said, switching channels.  
"Tuuurning on your seeex driiiive!" The next channel was a song.  
"Oh, Mina...how far you've dropped since you began..." Tails sighed. "Poor girl." She switches again.  
"So, Bunnie. People have asked the question, what's it like to walk around half covered in metal limbs?" Tails lifted an eyebrow.  
"I had no idea Berny opened a chat channel on the radio..." She said to herself.  
"Well, ya'll gotta underst-..." Tails switched channels again.

Three raps are heard at the door. Tails, annoyed that the kettle hasn't boiled yet, goes to the door and opens it. "Hello?"

"Hey luv, peek-a-boo." is all that's heard.

Tails sighs somewhat. "Marine, get down from my doors sunroof." She said.

"Aw... fine." and Marine comes down. "So how are you lovely ladies doing?"

"I'm tired as shit and she's asleep." Tails smiled. "Come on in, I'm making coffee." She said, before heading back to the kitchen.

"Coffee... well, it's good for Mums in moderation..."

"I need a wakeup, I'm not taking it excessively." Tails replied.

"True, true."

"So, where have you been recently?"

"Been working on stuff."

"Right..." Tails drags. "So, what brings you here?" She asked, as the kettle began to boil. She took it off and prepared her cup. "Do you want one?"

"No coffee for me, I'll just get some juice." Marine answered. "Besides, a good captain always checks up on her crew."

"Fair enough." Tails said, getting her some juice whilst she makes her coffee. "After this, I'm going to go out."

"Mind if I tag along?"

"You probably would anyway, knowing you." Tails giggled, passing her drink over, and taking her coffee. She goes and takes a seat in the living room.

"You act like you dun want me around..."

"I was teasing..." Tails replied. "Sure you can join me, I could use someone to carry my things."

"Well, you are just about knocking on the door anyway." and Marine sips her drink.

Tails looks at her. "You mean labour wise?"

"I mean parent-wise, but you'll be a great mum. That Muri though... I pray for that one."

"That's not a nice thing to say, Muri's a wonderful mother and she loves her son."

"Not what I meant. Your girlfriend is a fragile girl, probably due to lack of friends. Scares easy too, and needs a good hatch batten. In a sense, she reminds me of myself... never had much to do and such."

"Hatch batten?" Tails questioned.

"Batten down her hatches."

Tails sighs. "Fine, don't answer." She said, finishing her drink. "Want to do me a big favour?"

"Milk your hootz again?"

Tails sighed. "No, you're not milking me like a cow, so get over it." She said. "But you can help me change into one of my dresses, Lavender makes it hard recently."

"Sure, luv. Everyone needs help. And hopefully, you'll wear something nice for me." Marine giggles.

"Not today, just a regular dress." Tails said. "I guess you can help me get into my sexy black lace maternity bra and panties though. I'll probably use them later on, if you catch my drift."

"Yeah, when you get your body back. By the way, have you and Muri..."

"Have we what?" Tails asked.

"You know, what we did?"

"To be honest, I haven't seen much of her...or anyone else, for a while now. I needed peace and quiet, and was captured by Egghead before Shadow saved me. But, no, we haven't." Tails replied. "Why, do you want us to? Maybe we can get Cream around and all have a foursome."

"No complaints here, I'll have two sets of hootz to milk." and Marine has a clam-happy smile on her face.

"You're not going to be satisfied till you get a drink, huh?"

"I gotta get over my you know what."

"Obsession?"

"Yeah."

"If I let you do it, will you shut up for the rest of the day at least about it?" Tails asked.

"Nah, someone else needs it more than me."

"Fine, but stop going on about it then." Tails replied. "Come, might as well change." And she goes off to her bedroom, having finished her drink. Marine follows Tails. _I hope everyone else is doing okay._ she thought.

Tails then takes off her PJ's and fetches the clothes she plans to wear. Marine has to hold her panties so she can step into them, since it's a hassle for her to bend down without straining herself and she does her dress up by the back. After she was changed, she picked up some essentials and the two left and headed for the station.

"Ok, so where to first?" asked Marine.

"Train." Tails replied. "I didn't plan anything, I was just going to wander, really."

"Wandering on stuff is fun."

"Wonder what everyone else is up to at the moment."

"I wish I knew." Marine shrugged.

The two arrived in Station Square, where Tails had to immediately find a bathroom. After that was done, they walked down to the mall. "So, what are you planning to do, if anything?"

"I may hit the gym." Marine answered.

"Well, have fun with that." Tails replied.

"I din't say I was going now."

"Doesn't mean you can't have fun with it." Tails replied.

"What happened so someone helping you with your stuff?"

"I haven't bought anything yet, and usually Shadow or Sonic shows up in the nick of time when i do that and i lumber it onto them."

"Fine, I'm leaving." Marine pouts.

Tails sighs. "Why are you taking what I'm saying like that?"

"Just kidding, luv. C'mon and let's go already."

"Go where, we're already walking through town." Tails asked.

"No matter."

"Hey, Marine, let's play a game." Tails said.

"A game?" Marine raises an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?"

"I'll give you a tip off, Sonic's about to speed past us in roughly 12 second's time. Try to get his attention and see what happens." Tails replied.

"From which direction?"

"Our right." Tails replied.

Thinking quickly, Marine turns to her right and then pulls her top down. The result gives off a mirror-like reflection in an attempt to catch a certain blue Hedgehog. Sonic skidded, halted, but tripped over a curb, bounced past the girls and head-first into a trashcan. He proceeded to struggle with it as Tails fell into hysterical laughter. _Oh, how this would've gotten so many hits on FurTube..._ Marine thought.

Sonic then got out of the trashcan. "What the hell just happened?" He asked, looking around with a banana peel on his spine. He cleaned himself off and looked back at the girls as Tails was finally able to calm herself down.  
"Oh, Lavender loved that as well. She's still kicking." She said.

"Gives flashing a whole new meaning, don't it?" Marine asks.  
"Marine, grow a pair... I mean it." Sonic said.  
"You still caught enough that you fell into a bin, so I wouldn't complain." Tails teased him.  
"What are you up to, anyway?" Sonic asked.  
"Just chillin'." Tails replied.

"Grow a pair..." Marine started to cry, "I can't help it that I have small hootz. That's a terrible thing to say to a girl, 'Grow a pair.' I'm trying to grow my pair..." and out comes the waterworks

And Tails conks Sonic on the head. "Now look what you did..." She said.  
"Geez... Sorry..." Sonic replied rubbing his head. Tails then went to sooth Marine, if at all possible. "Okay, uuh... I'll be at your mercy, Marine, think of me for the day as your personal blue genie, so long as the wish isn't obscene, I'll do whatever." Sonic said, trying to make it up to her.

"You promise?" Marine asks with a slight hiccup.

"Just... try not to humiliate me too much." Sonic said, scratching his head.

Marine wipes her eyes. "So Tails, you feeling hungry?'

"Somewhat." Tails replied.  
_Well, there goes my money for the day. Guess I deserve it though._ Sonic thought.

"Looks like Lunch is on the blue blur." Marine said. "Today is Chilli dog day at The Dog House... three for a bill."

"Awesome..." Sonic said.  
"Remember you're at Marine's beck and call all day, Sonic." Tails reminded him. "Let's go then."

The Dog House wasn't too crowded at this time, but everyone who was there had a nice little pyramid of the things on their plates. "I'll get us a table while you go and order the grub. And remember, mum isn't just eating for her." Marine says.

"I know." Sonic said. "We tend to eat loads anyway." And Sonic went to order. Tails and Marine went to find a place to sit.

The two manage to grab a spot away from harm, but in Sonics' view and Tails is seated by Marine. Marine then sits herself across from Tails, leaving the remaining two seats open. "So what exactly do you have planned for after the big moment?"

"You mean when I drop?" Tails asked. "No clue."

"So you won't be raring to hit the scale and whatnot?"

"Not really." Tails replied.

"I see. And how has 'daddykins' adjusted to this?"

"Shadow? Haven't seen him in a while." Tails said.

"So you don't know..."

"He seems to be coping well enough."

"And what about Muri, how will that play out?"

"How should I know?"

"You mean that you two won't be in your pad?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Something I heard Vanilla talking about. Something to do with you and Kweli and Lav. Don't remember the specifics, however."

"Oh, Vanilla's already got plans to hook up our children I think. Something like that." Tails replied.

"Odd..."

"Why?"

"I heard about those in the dragon kingdom, but apparently, they still exist." Marine rubs her chin. "And so young to boot, that'll be one hell of a talk."

"Riiight..." Tails sweat dropped. Sonic came over with a tray full of chilli-dogs.  
"Dinner is served, milady." He said, in a posh tone.

"Babes first?" Marine suggests.

"Just take stuff and eat." Tails said, taking some chilli-dogs onto her side as Sonic found himself a seat.

Marine takes two of the "dogs" in each hand. "Dig in, baby..."

Tails began to eat, clearly enjoying her meal. "So, Sonic, how're things on your end?"

"Decent..." Sonic answered. "Amy's laid off of me, found some nice places to run, won a break dancing contest, and then got flashed."

"Maybe you should take Tikal out on a date." Tails said.

"Date Tikal... I'll put it on the list of..." and Sonic noticed it about Tails, then passes her some napkins. "Here, you'll need these."

She takes it. "List of what?"

"Things to try."  
"Um, Tails..." Marine trails off. "You may want to... screw it, just come on."

Tails blinked. "What?"

"You got leakage." Sonic answers.

Tails narrowed her eyes. "So what? Marine loves it..." Tails said, still eating.

"Come on, let's go." Marine says. "We better get you cleaned up... and dried up."

"Ugh... I'm still hungry though." Tails said as she got up and was dragged to the disabled toilets.

Sonic just ate a chilli dog. "Needs some hot sauce." he said to himself.

Meanwhile back in the old mystic ruins zone, Tikal sneezed at random. "Oh my..." She said.

"What's your problem?" Rei asks.

"I don't know." Tikal said.  
"Someone must be talking about you." Muri said.

"Well, now that we've had a break, let's resume reading our training manuals." Vanilla said.

"Awww..." Muri complained. "I'm not good at this sort of thing..."

"It's the substitute for delaying actual combat."

"I'm no good at that either..." Muri said.

"You'll be fighting soon enough." Muri just lifted the book to hide her face.

"So, what's the purpose of this training?" Tikal asked.

"Learning self defence is a must for new mothers." Vanilla explains. "Everyone must be able to defend themselves and their loved ones. In some countries, new mothers were trained how to hold their infant in one hand and an AK-47 in the other hand."

The girls simply sweat drop. "I see..." Rei said.

"You should be lucky I'm not training you how to do that Muri, though I can always leave that option open for you." Vanilla smirks.

"I'm not killing people..." Muri replied.

"It doesn't' have to be a gun."

"..." Muri didn't respond.  
"What's going to happen with that other girl?" Tikal asked. "Irum, was it?"

"Another reason for the training." Vanilla answered. "As much as I heard about that girl being a weapon, disabling violent tendencies may be a need in the future."

Much time passed before Tikal stretched. "Can I go visit the town?" She asked.

"Feel free, But Muri and Cream need more study time." Vanilla answered.

"It tends to be hard to leave here without me, that's all." Tikal said.

"It'll give the girls more time for training."

"Alright. See you soon." And Tikal walked off to leave.

"And back to study for the girls. I think I'll take a bath." and Vanilla heads to the bathing pool.

Meanwhile, Tikal arrives in town, just as Sonic, Tails and Marine are finished with their meal and were leaving the shop.

"Well, this is a bonzor of a twist." Marine says.

"Oh?" Tikal asked. "Well, hello." She walked over.

"You missed the grub."

"No worries, I ate before coming out." Tikal said. "At some point."

"I see." Marine said.  
_Nice, I saved some money._ Sonic thought.

"So, what are you doing?" Tikal asked.  
"Well, Sonic was just telling us how much he loved you." Tails fibbed.

_Classic._ Marine thought.

Tikal blushed like a light. "Wait, what?" Sonic barked. "Bu-..."  
"Don't deny it Sonic, you were just telling us how you doubted you could be without her." Tails said.

_Classic._ Marine thought.

"Okay, this just feels awkward." Sonic said.

"So, what do you want Sonic to do for you next, Marine?" Tails asked, as Tikal rubbed her cheeks.

"Let's hit up Twinkle Park for some carnival games." Marine suggests.

"Sounds like fun. Maybe Tikal and Sonic can ride the tunnel of love." Tails teased.

"Yawn." Sonic replied. "Tunnel of Love is outdated, and you should know I do rides with thrills, Tails. Shame on you."

"Fine, ride a rollercoaster and let her hold your arm." Tails changed her mind.

And off the quartet went to Twinkle Park. the short elevator made Tails feel her unborn daughter's discomfort, but other than that, things went well. Sure, she couldn't ride anything, but Tails still had a good time on the carnival games... the shooting ones were a nice excel for her, but had to pass on the laser tag. It was fine though; Marine and Tikal ensured she was having a good time, even though Tails continued to tease and try to hook Sonic and Tikal up.

After being on their legs for quite some time, the four find a table for a sit. "Well, this was a nice turn of events." Marine said.

"For you girls anyway." Sonic retorted.  
"What's that, mystic blue genie?" Tails asked.  
"Nothing."

"And how are you enjoying yourself, Tikal?" Marine asks.

"I'm enjoying myself quite well, thank you." Tikal smiled.

"Anyone have ideas on where to go next?"

"I should probably head back to the others soon, encase any of them want out of the old mystic ruins." Tikal said.

"You left them there?" Tails asks.  
"How's that possible?" asked Marine.

"As long as Chaos is there, they're fine." Tikal sweat dropped.

"So who's all there anyway?" Tails asks.

"Muri, Vanilla, Cream, Rei... Oh, and Kweli of course." Tikal said.

"I say we take a pit stop, too, I mean, I wanna see the little bugger again." Marine suggests.  
"Why not, Sonic doesn't have much to do anyway." Tails adds.

Sonic just sighed, and they all stood up to leave.

"Looks like we're ready to go. Tikal, be gentle while working your magic please?" Tails requests.

"Aren't I always?" Tikal giggled.

"Dunno." Marine answered.

Tikal just shook her head softly and began her magic, as far as anyone around saw, the four turned into a ball of light and flew away.

Moments passed for the four, before appearing at the alter of the Master Emerald in the old Mystic Ruins.

"So, someone please explain." Marine said. "I mean, this is in the Mystic Jungle of when again?"

"These ruins are what were left of my civilisation many, many years ago, when my people decided to become greedy in the war against a race of cats, decided to try to use the chaos emeralds which Chaos was protecting. Chaos used the emeralds power to become his ultimate form, and nothing was left but these ruins." Tikal explained.

"But Chaos looks so cool and temperate. Can he really be so devastating?"

"When we first met, he was on Eggbutt's side, he consumed the chaos emeralds and flooded Station Square. A lot was lost and even Eggman himself got shot down by Chaos' power. He's cooled off now because his reign of revenge is over, thanks to Tikal." Sonic explained. "But yeah, given the chaos emeralds and a will to destroy, he can be a real pain in the backside."

_I wonder of the Sol emeralds would have a similar effect on Chaos..._ Marine thought to herself.

The four were walking towards where Vanilla had 'set up her training camp'. "Cream, over here!" Tails waved, smiling, seeing her best friend.

Cream looks over and sees Tails and company. "Well, this is a nice change of pace." she said to herself. "Muri, we got company."

Muri looked over. "Oh." She said, she then ticked Kweli's chin. "Hey, sweetie, we have visitors." She picked him up and with Cream, went to the four who were still walking over.

As everyone comes together, hugs and greets were exchanged... but more importantly, Kweli wanted to be held by Tails. The fox agreed, not because she had nothing against Kweli, but it gave her practice for holding her soon-to-be born daughter. "Hey, I wanna hold him next." Marine said.

Tails stuck her tongue out at Marine teasingly. "You'll get to hold Lavender before too long." She said.

"Speaking of which, how's she doing?" asked Cream.

"Have a feel if you want." Tails said, holding Kweli out of the way for Cream. She then began to tickle his belly softly.

"I think I'll wait."  
"Good idea. And it's nice to see more people here too." Vanilla says as she approaches the group. "This'll be perfect for training. And judging by Sonic's looks, he could use a bit of contest."

"Yeah, no." Sonic said. "I've had my fair share of orders today."

"You act like taking care of Tails is hard work."

"I upset Marine, so I'm under her orders for the rest of the day." Sonic shrugged.

"This wasn't a bust issue, was it?"

"Exnay on the usty-bay..." Sonic said.

"Well, at least you didn't get 'the song', Marine." Cream said.  
"What song?" asked Marine.  
"The song, you mean 'I must Increase my Bust', don't you?" Vanilla asked.  
"I still haven't lived that up." Cream answered with a facepalm.

"Um... perhaps we should move on before I have to ensure Marine get's more genies." Tails said.

"This is a nice break, so let's get in some training now." Vanilla reminds the two young rabbits.

"I don't want to train." Muri complained, she was clearly scared of the training.

"Training's not so bad, especially for young mothers." Marine said. "You know I read that in some countries, mothers holding their babe know how to toss grenades with their feet."

"Again with this?" Muri asked.  
"Vanilla's not one to stop until you do it." Tails replied. "I'll have to sometime after I've given birth, too."

"I have an online gal pal who not only keeps it there, but uses a switch knife in her snatch." Marine continues.  
Vanilla made a bitter beer face. "Okay, that's not only wrong on so many levels, but it pays homage to saving virgin girls from days of Camelot." she said.

"If I have kids, I want the AK-47 training." Rei said.

"What AK-47 training?" asked Marine.

"Vanilla said the same thing as you, only used an AK-47 instead of a grenade." Rei said.

"Shooting an AK with your feet? That's awesome, I wanna learn that."

"My feet are metal, so I doubt I can do that." Rei laughed.

"But you said that you wanted the training..."

"I meant holding an AK in one hand, child in the other." Rei shrugged.

"Oh, that. Yeah, I knew about that one. I can hold a ten pound weighted doll in one hand and fire a shotgun... though, I haven't figured out cocking it yet."

"Teeth?" Rei questioned. Muri seemed relieved, the conversation was preventing training.

"Nah, you leave yourself wide open to attack."

"Why are we having this conversation?" Sonic questioned.

"You're right, let's do more training." Vanilla said.

Cream was now mad, "Sonic, thanks a lot." she said.

"Lemmie take you on a date to make up for it." Sonic joked.

"That sounds like a good idea." Tails commented.

"So lemme get this straight." Marine begins, "You're tired of my having you do stuff by my wish for the day, but you're okay with Tails pimping you out?"  
"Maybe we should get Tails a purple suit..." Cream suggests.

"Awesome." Tails laughed.  
"Marine, I'll still grant your wishes, I'm a man of my word, and Tails is just horny, clearly, so she's trying to wash that off by hooking others up, that's my guess." Sonic said, before getting a slap round the back of the head.

"Even though she's pregnant, Tails has a good pimp hand." Cream says with a giggle.  
_Tails the Pimp... I swear someone is gonna make a flash game out of this._ thought Vanilla.

"Right..." Sonic rubbed his head.

"Vanilla, what training are you using?" Tails asked.

"Well, Hand combat and defensive moving." Vanilla answered. "Muri is playing the scared card, but fear only fears itself. And the sooner she can defend herself, and her son, the better."

"You sound like it's an act." Tails replied.

"What's an act?"

"Muri playing the scared card." Tails said.

"It's nice to see you think that Muri is only acting scared. but simple thinking aside, it'll be helpful and fun once you get the hang of it."

"Don't twist this on me, Vanilla, you're the one who said it..." Tails narrowed her eyes.

"So I shouldn't make this fun?"

"And now you're playing games I don't appreciate with my words." Tails was getting pissed.

"Fine, I take it back." Vanilla looks over to Tikal. "Do you have any old weapons or targets around these ruins?"

"Peacekeeper, remember?" Tikal said. "You're forgetting my imagination rule in this place."

"So no targets or old weapons?"

No." Tikal said.  
"But you can imagine or 'want' them, and they appear." Tails told Vanilla.

"Are there any poles around here at least?" asked Vanilla.

"Vanilla, this is hardly the time for pole dancing." Tikal said, joking but sounding serious.

"So you do have poles then?"

"Sonic has one." Tails said.

"Yes, there's probably something of what you're asking somewhere around here." Tikal answered.

"Please get them." Vanilla requests.

Tikal snapped her fingers and the requested objects came flying over, and rested safely in front of Vanilla.

"Well, since the old Knuckle tribe targets are nonexistent, we'll have to pass on that. but for now, let's begin training." Vanilla says and takes one of the poles. "Marine, Cream, Muri, grab a pole and let's begin."

"This should be fun." Marine says. Muri was reluctant, but she knew she wasn't getting out of it. Sonic went to the lake to lie down and chill out with Tails.


End file.
